The Growing Season

Thanskgiving, and Giving Back to my Uterus

2011-12-03T11:16:00.001-05:00

Our frozen transfer took place on November 28th. But first, Thanksgiving! It was wonderful having Thanksgiving the week before our FET because it gave me so little time to worry about it. Time flew by. We had a great Thanksgiving day at our house with family and a few friends.

My two sisters and I split the food making so that we each made 3 or 4 dishes, so it wasn't stressful at all to host. I even had time to make placecards...

...and "thankful cards." We each wrote down what we were thankful for, then we had to try and guess who had written each card.

The kids had fun at their table too, making Native American headbands and coloring pictures of turkeys. I think they even ate some food.

Once Thanksgiving was done, we had the weekend to relax and clean the house. I had Christmas card envelopes ready to address during my period of bedrest and Felicity DVDs cued up. Best of all, I felt great physically. It's amazing how much easier the FET process is on the body! No ovaries working overtime, no regimen of several shots a day. Just one a night. (Some nights it's two, but I figured out I could draw them up into the same syringe. Yay.)

My transfer time was 2:00 on Monday the 28th. Sawyer gets off the bus at 3:00, so Eric took the day off so he could be there to meet the bus. Which unfortunately meant that he wouldn't be able to be there with me, but since the whole process is getting pretty routine for me, I was OK with that. SG wanted me to arrive by 1:30 so I left around 12:00 so I'd have time to stop on the way for a quick lunch (I was already tired of turkey leftovers at home) and to get my mandatory beverage. For transfer you need to have a moderately full bladder, which means drinking about 20 oz of liquid an hour before. I got there right on time, which might be a first, and only had to wait a few minutes before they took me back to the transfer room. They had me take off my shoes and put on booties, and undress from the waist down and wait for Dr. S to come in. He went over the consent forms with me (no pushback about transferring two this time - the silver lining to two miscarriages in a row.) The transfer itself went very smoothly, and even though I apparently didn't have enough to drink they were still able to visualize well enough. Both embryos came out together this time. Afterward they had me lie still for 5 minutes, then I got up, got dressed, used the bathroom, and checked out with a nurse who reminded me to rest on a couch or bed for 24 hours, keep taking my meds, and not to freak out during the two week wait. I am a compliant patient but I made no guarantees about that last one. And that was it. I was pulling out of the parking lot by 2:25.

Bedrest was great. Nothing like lazing around reading and watching TV while all your meals are brought to you. We did have one minor incident in which Eric decided to play a video game in the basement and he couldn't hear us yelling for him, which caused me a sudden blood pressure spike and near aneurysm, but I survived it (and more amazingly, Eric did too.) By the next morning I was ready to be done, but I managed to hold out until 12:00 when Eric convinced me to come get lunch with him and drive around looking at houses. So I made it 22 hours. Don't tell my nurse and get me in trouble.

So now, we wait. For some reason SG makes us wait a full two weeks after transfer to have a blood test which feels eternal. I haven't been as busy the past few days so that makes it harder too. Maybe I need a new hobby.

As far as testing at home, I'm going to do it, but I'm not going to write about it on here. Once we get a firm answer one way or the other though, I promise you'll get the full story. I just can't put it out there yet, for my own sanity.

Here We Go...Again

2011-11-17T09:42:00.001-05:00

There's something really different about this cycle. It's a different protocol than I've done before, but the biggest change is that I'm not excited at all. Last time was "Here we go!" and now it's more "Ugh, here we go again." I heave a sigh before every shot.

With two losses in the past 5 months, it almost seems impossible to me that this will work. And yes, I know IVF veterans are probably laughing at me at this point - 3 cycles in a year really isn't that much. But it's a lot for me. I'm not sure how many more times I can handle doing this.

On the bright side, this FET stuff is pretty easy compared to a fresh cycle, at least physically. Only two ultrasound and bloodwork appointments before the actual transfer (as opposed to about 10 for fresh.) And the meds are much easier too. Here's the schedule, trips to the doctor in bold.

Nov 12 - Baseline appointment, Delestrogen shot (0.2 ml)
Nov 15 - Delestrogen shot (0.2 ml)
Nov 18 - Delestrogen shot (0.2 ml)
Nov 21 - Delestrogen shot (0.2 ml)
Nov 23 - Ultrasound to check lining, bloodwork to check P4 and E2 levels; if all looks good begin progesterone (PIO) shots
Nov 24 - Delestrogen shot (0.2 ml), PIO shot (1 ml)
Nov 25 - PIO
Nov 26 - PIO
Nov 27 - Delestrogen & PIO
Nov 28 - Transfer, PIO
Nov 29 - PIO
Nov 30 - Delestrogen, PIO
continue both meds until....
Dec 12 - beta

I'm also taking all the same pills I've been taking since the spring: Metformin, FABB, Vitamin D, levothyroxine, bromocriptine.

So at this point I've had the baseline appointment and two Delestrogen shots. So far so good. Although the doctor who performed the ultrasound was kind of weird. I had to go to a far away office since it was a Saturday, so I didn't see my normal doctor. Actually, I'm not even positive she was a doctor, because she didn't introduce herself to me before shoving the wand in, and then she told me absolutely nothing about what she saw, except to ask me "Are you sure you haven't had anything removed?" Um...yeah, pretty sure. Apparently she found everything she was looking for though because she was done and gone before I could ask a question. Bizarre. They must have been running really behind schedule that day. Or she was just weird.

So that's the latest. Taking my big-A shots (they are both intramuscular) and waiting for the next appointment. Here we go. Ugh.

60 Days

2011-10-24T15:59:00.001-04:00

In exactly 60 days we will be climbing aboard this:

We'll be on it for 6 nights in the western Caribbean, doing this:

and this:

We've booked our first ever Disney cruise. Actually, our first ever cruise. And actually (this is kind of embarrassing) our first ever family vacation with just our family. Since Sawyer was born we've always gone with extended family or friends. I am beyond excited to spend some time doing amazingly fun things in warmer weather with just the three of us. Well, just the three of us and a couple thousand new friends.

And yep, if you looked at your calendar you're right - in 60 days it's Christmas Eve. This will be an unconventional Christmas for sure but I'm very much looking forward to not having to cook or clean or wrap a bunch of gifts this year. After everything we've gone through in the past several months, we all need a break. And we desperately need something to look forward to other than shots and procedures. My beta test following this next FET is December 12, and the thought of spending Christmas at home a couple weeks after another negative or chemical pregnancy is too depressing for words. This way even if the results are bad, we'll be busy getting ready to travel and will have lots of pampering and excitement in the future. And if the results are good, even better. The countdown is on!

FET #2

2011-10-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

It looks like we're ready to go...for what I sincerely hope is the last time. My period arrived on Sunday (and I'm using the term "period" very loosely, since I've learned that what happens after a chemical pregnancy bears almost no resemblance to my usual AF visit.) I had to go back to the RE this morning for one final beta test to make sure that my HCG level is down to the negative range. It is (yay?) so that means I'm cleared to start birth control pills again tonight. Here's the upcoming schedule:

October 12 - start BCPs and Lovenox (the shot-free days were nice while they lasted!)
November 7 - take last BCP
November 12 - baseline ultrasound, to make sure lining is thin and I don't have any cysts or anything. Turn in consent forms. Begin meds - Delestrogen, 4 mg every 3 days (unfortunately another big IM needle - but at least it's not every day.)
November 23 - ultrasound to check lining, bloodwork to check progesterone and estradiol. Begin progesterone-in-oil shots somewhere around this time.
November 28 - TRANSFER! The Monday after Thanksgiving.
December 12 - beta test

I'm still feeling very sad about this past cycle. Not knowing why it didn't work when everything looked perfect is really, really hard. At least with our failed FET we knew that the embryos we transferred weren't good quality and there wasn't much of a chance that it would work. This time everything went so smoothly and all the pieces fell into place. I am definitely glad that we decided to go against our doctor's wishes and transfer two, because if we had only done one I'd be wondering right now if it might have worked had we done two. At least we know we did everything we possibly could. And there is a lot to be grateful for:

1) that we have TEN excellent embryos waiting. That gives me so much hope.
2) that despite having a record-setting 68 eggs retrieved, I only had mild OHSS. No fluid had to be drained. Seriously, that's a miracle.
3) that we have the means to continue treatment. This is not the end of the line.

Chemical ... Again

2011-10-06T15:50:00.000-04:00

I hate that I have to do this update - but I do.

This cycle is officially a bust. At 8dp5dt (8 days past a 5 day transfer, or 13 days past ovulation) I got a faint positive on a First Response test. I was excited but worried because I knew it was fairly late to be getting a positive test and that usually means low HCG levels, which usually means chemical pregnancy (early miscarriage.) The tests kept getting darker over the next several days, but then when I had my blood test on Tuesday it came back at only 22. We tested again today to see if by some miracle the number would double, but today it was down to 7. Another chemical pregnancy. Here's the HPT progression - as gross as it is to post pictures of pee sticks, I find it really interesting. Especially keeping in mind that my HCG today was at 7, and I still got a clear second line. That is a sensitive test!

Obviously we are very sad and disappointed. Everything went so perfectly this cycle that we really had our hopes up. But we do have a lot to be grateful for. I'm relieved that it didn't take us weeks this time to find out that this pregnancy is not viable. And we have 10 awesome looking blastocysts that are frozen and waiting to be transferred.

We plan to move ahead right away with doing a frozen embryo transfer. Our insurance coverage is maxed out (amazing how quickly we reached that $15,000 lifetime maximum!) so from this point on we'll be paying for everything completely out of pocket. Needless to say, we very much hope that the next cycle will be the one that works.

Frozen

2011-09-24T09:00:00.007-04:00

We got the call yesterday afternoon about our embryo cryopreservation - and 10 of them made it to freeze! That may not seem like a lot considering that we started out with 48, but since we had so many we were able to let them grow in the lab for 5 days. By watching them for that extra time, the embryologists are better able to determine which ones are likely to be viable after freezing and thawing. The ones that are defective stop growing and the ones that aren't keep on dividing. The culture medium they use only allows this to work for around 5-6 days and after that it can't support their growth anymore - otherwise they might go for a lot longer to get even better information. It's rare to have this many still growing, so we're thrilled...thrilled, and a little bit undecided about what we're going to do with all of them. But we're taking it one step (baby!) at a time, and if we get to the point where it's clear that we're not going to use some of them, we'll make that decision when the time comes.

Since yesterday I feel like the OHSS is coming back, which is weird but it might just be in my head (or maybe bloating from the PIO shots?) I also feel like I'm coming down with a cold (Eric already has a bad one so it's like a ticking time bomb for me and Sawyer) BUT I'm very excited about my sister Erin's wedding this weekend! My Utah family is here and it will be so fun to spend time with all of them while we watch Erin and Josh wed. The perfect joyful distraction!

Transfer

2011-09-23T10:33:00.001-04:00

I can't believe this cycle is almost over. It's gone so smoothly and has been so much easier than I remember it being the first time. During Sawyer's cycle I remember thinking that if it didn't work, I wasn't sure I could do it again. This time I feel like I could - although obviously we hope we don't need to.

Wednesday was transfer day, 1:15 pm. We didn't get put on the schedule until Tuesday afternoon, so this caused some scrambling as Eric dealt with his work schedule and I tried to find someone to get Sawyer off of the bus (again.) After not having any luck and considering me just going by myself, it dawned on us that since I could drive (no anesthesia this time) we could drive there separately and Eric could leave early if he needed to. Wednesday we spent a nice quiet morning all at home together, then put Sawyer on the bus and headed to Rockville for hopefully the last time in a long time. I stopped to grab some lunch on the way and to get something to drink since I forgot the bottle of Gatorade I had planned to bring. For embryo transfer they use an abdominal ultrasound, so you need to have a moderately full bladder when you arrive. Chick-fil-A and a big lemonade to the rescue!

We arrived at the Rockville center right on time (which I'm pretty sure is a first) and checked in. After just a few minutes in the waiting room a nurse called us back and showed up to the transfer room where we waited for the doctor. And waited. And waited. I don't know why the take you out of the waiting room if you still have a lot of waiting to do, but it was OK. After about half an hour we finally met Dr. Widra. After shaking our hands he told me "You've caused quite a stir around here!" because of my awesome ovaries. Not the number one thing I'd choose to be famous for, but I'll take it. Next we went over our consents for transfer. I had already spoken to Dr. K on the phone that morning and let him know that we had decided to transfer two embryos, even though he was recommending an e-SET. Dr. W didn't give us too much pushback (and actually neither did Dr. K) which I appreciated. We signed the forms and checked the box for cryopreservation of any embryos we have left over, which hopefully will be several. An embryologist also came in and had us sign some stuff and checked once again that my ID bracelet matched the embryos. After everything was signed and checked they left us alone once again so I could undress and get set up on the procedure bed.

After another wait, Dr W came back with a nurse and we got started. The procedure is pretty simple and not painful at all, although I would say it's somewhat uncomfortable because of the needing-to-pee factor. First the doctor put in a speculum, just like for a pap smear. He cleaned the cervical area, and then the nurse used the ultrasound to visualize the uterus while he inserted a small catheter through the cervix (the nurse commented on how great my ovaries looked - they are already back to almost normal size, which is crazy considering how many eggs I had retrieved just a few days before. Yay, my ovaries! And yay Lupron trigger!) Dr. W told the embryologist we were ready for the embryos, which were in a lab right next door to the procedure room. While she went to get them a live picture of them appeared on a flat-screen TV on the wall, so that we could verify that the name and social security number on their petri dish were correct. Here's the picture. I think they're cute.

A few minutes later she came back in with our embryos loaded into another soft catheter. She said "two for Watts" and the Dr. repeated "two for Watts" - to confirm once again that they were the correct embryos and that we knew how many were going in. The Dr. threaded the catheter holding the embryos through the one that was already in me, and when it was at the top of the uterus he told the embryologist to empty the catheter. After she did, they waited a minute before removing the soft catheter (the nurse timed it exactly) and kept everything else in while she went back to the lab to look at the catheter under a microscope to make sure that both embryos had been transferred. Which is a step I fully support, because it turned out that one of them hadn't been! It was still inside the catheter. So we got to do the transfer all over again, this time with the instructions "one for Watts." Dr. W answered "one for Watts, which is almost certainly female." He assured us that this happens a lot, and that it doesn't hurt our chances of success at all. A minute later, the embryologist took the catheter back and confirmed that this time nothing was left inside. Transfer was done!

At this point Eric had to leave in order to get home in time for Sawyer, so it worked out perfectly. They had me stay lying down on the bed for 5 minutes, but that turned into 15 because the discharge nurse was running behind. It was fine because unlike with our FET, I didn't have to go to the bathroom that badly. When the nurse came in she went over my instructions for the next few days: 24 hours of bed rest, getting up only to go to the bathroom or get a snack, followed by 3 days of "light activity" which they define as no strenuous exercise, no lifting heavy things, no sex, and just generally taking it easy as much as possible. She asked me how many eggs I had retrieved and when I said "65" she stared at me blankly and I could tell she was thinking "This girl has no idea what she's talking about." I said "I know, it's a lot" and she said "Wait a minute, I heard about you! I can't believe you're not in severe pain!" I told her I felt better this time than I did when we retrieved 20 eggs, which is totally crazy but true (I chalk it up to the HCG trigger I had the first time.) She warned me that if I do get pregnant it's likely that the OHSS will return, which I hope doesn't happen (it didn't with Sawyer.) We went over my medications and realized I wasn't supposed to be taking both endometrin and PIO (one of the other nurses post=ER had told me I was) so she put in a call to Dr. K to make sure, and sure enough I'm only supposed to be on PIO.

Finally I was able to get dressed, go use the bathroom and check out. I crashed on the couch as soon as I got home because I hadn't slept much the night before out of nervousness. It feels so good to be done! And I have to admit I enjoyed the bed rest - although 24 hours was plenty, I was getting kind of bored at the end. We should hear back soon about our remaining embryos and how many get vitrified. My beta test is October 4. And now all we can do is wait!

Fertilization Report

2011-09-17T17:38:00.000-04:00

Out of 68 eggs, 54 were mature and fertilized via ICSI.

On day 1, 48 embryos were dividing!!!

Of course we are thrilled about having such astronomically high numbers because it basically means this should be our last fresh cycle ever, and we might end up being able to have a larger family than we had anticipated. The nurse who called me said "You have definitely set an all-time record."

The ONLY down side is that with such a high number of eggs, I'm at a very high risk of developing severe OHSS. I already have a mild case, but if it doesn't get worse we should be able to proceed with a day 5 transfer. The nurse who called gave me some instructions for alleviating OHSS (chugging Gatorade all day long and eating plenty of protein) and symptoms to watch out for (trouble breathing, not urinating, severe abdominal pain, vomiting.) Because I didn't have an HCG trigger or an HCG booster, they're hoping I can avoid the severe version.

I'm not feeling so hot today, seriously bloated, still taking Vicodin and spending lots of time on the couch. Hopefully over the next few days I'll get progressively better.

Retrieval

2011-09-17T09:30:00.002-04:00

Retrieval is DONE! The hardest part (for me) of an IVF cycle...well, except for waiting for those first beta results.

We arrived at the Rockville center at 11:00 on Friday. Actually around 11:10 since the GPS took us on an unexpected detour and I was so nervous I wasn't paying attention to where Eric was going. I was really glad I had been to the center before because it could have been much worse! Also the place is really intimidating, it's a huge office complex and the whole thing belongs to our practice. The whole 4th floor is the surgery center. When we arrived they checked me in and sent us to a waiting room where 3 other couples were already waiting. After a few minutes they called us back, only to find out that the bed they thought was open was not ready yet, so we waited in another waiting room for a few more minutes. Finally they took me to my bed, which was in a large open-plan hospital-like room divided by curtains. Which I know is very practical, but unfortunately does not provide very much privacy and the patient next to me was just coming out of the anesthesia and not having a very good time. She was moaning, crying, and threw up a couple of times. I felt so bad for her, and also on a self-centered note it was not the most fun thing to listen to as I was waiting for my surgery to start. I did see her as she left a while later and she seemed better at that point.

I changed into the hospital gown, booties and hat, and the nurse who would be taking care of me came in and asked me all the pre-op questions: Are you on any medications? (It would be quicker to ask me what medications I'm NOT on) Did you remember not to eat or drink? Any allergies? Did you take your antibiotic last night? And then someone came in to take Eric to another room for collection. I didn't see him again, which was kind of distressing to me since I thought I'd get another chance to kiss him goodbye before surgery, but it all worked out OK. Soon the anesthesiologist came in and asked me all the same questions the nurse had asked, and started my IV line. That can be kind of a stressful process with my tiny veins, but he did a great job and gave me some numbing medicine first so I barely even felt it.

I waited for what felt like forever on my own, getting progressively colder and colder from the saline drip they were giving me with only a thin blanket. I didn't know what time it was because unfortunately Eric had taken my purse with him and I didn't have my phone or the book I had brought to pass the time. I tried to do some deep breathing and meditate but it didn't work so well.

Finally Dr. Wolff, the doctor who would be performing my procedure came in and introduced herself and told me it wouldn't be too much longer. They had me get up and walk my IV pole to the bathroom to empty my bladder, and then the anesthesiologist came to walk me into the OR. They had me get up onto the table and put my legs into the stirrup thingies and the anesthesiologist gave me something in my IV that immediately made me feel drowsy and warm. I remember seeing the wall of medical supplies and one container in particular that was labeled "Hysteroscopy: Big Boy" and thinking I'm glad they didn't use the Big Boy on me during my hysteroscopy! (Bad fertility treatment humor, always helps in stressful times.) I don't remember lying down, although I must have at some point because the next thing I knew I was waking up back in the curtained room where I had started.

The retrieval itself is a quick process that takes about 20 minutes. The doctor uses a transvaginal ultrasound transducer just like the ones I get at all my monitoring appointments, but this one has a long needle attached to the top. They visualize the ovary on ultrasound and guide the needle through the vaginal wall, through the abdominal cavity, and into the follicles on each ovary. The fluid from the follicles is aspirated into a test tube, and that's where all the eggs are. After aspiration they look under a microscope to see how many eggs they got. For the non-squeamish, here's a drawing to help you visualize: http://amarkedman.com/2011/08/31/day-314-part-1/egg-retrieval/ For obvious reasons, I was very very happy to be asleep through the whole procedure.

They called Eric back as I was waking up and asked me how I was feeling and the answer was - ouch. Very much ouch. The nurse gave me some fentanyl through my IV and a heating pad for my belly and almost immediately I felt better, although I still had some pain. A few minutes later she came back and said that I looked much better already. Soon our egg report was ready and they told us how many they got. I'm glad I was already sitting (lying) down, because the answer was....68 eggs. 68!!!! The nurse said she thinks it's a record. We were totally shocked, because at last count I thought I had around 40 follicles, and not every follicle has an egg, so we were hoping for somewhere around 30. Plus, with our first IVF I felt much worse physically than I did this time, and only had 20 eggs. I never in a million years expected to get this many!

After the shock had worn off a bit, about 20 minutes later they had me get up and see if I could walk with support, and I could, so it was time to change and go home. Eric took me out to the car while he picked up my prescriptions in the pharmacy (in the same building, the place is a fertility mecca) for Vicodin (hallelujah) and my progesterone in oil shots (not nearly as fun.) At this point it was 2:45 and I hadn't eaten all day, and Eric hadn't had lunch, so we made a quick stop to pick up some food and then went home. My amazing friend Ti had gotten Sawyer off the bus and was watching him, and then another friend came by to bring us dinner for that evening and a bouquet of roses. There was some drama with one of the neighbors when Sawyer got off the bus (long story) but I was pretty out of it so I couldn't care that much. I crashed on the couch for the rest of the evening watching season 7 of The Office on Blu-ray and trying not to laugh too hard because it hurt way too much.

Retrieval=DONE and a huge success! Better than we ever imagined. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes. Next step: recovery, fertilization report, and transfer!

Ready for Retrieval

2011-09-15T20:44:00.000-04:00

There it is - the big needle that gave me 0.4 of Lupron, and that thankfully I didn't have to jab into myself. I was supposed to trigger at 12:30 a.m., and Eric walked in the door from Dallas at 12:28! Just in the nick of time. The shot itself wasn't bad. And this morning my bloodwork confirmed that the trigger worked and my LH is nice and high.

LH-96.9 (they want it over 15)
P4-8.07, I'll be starting PIO tomorrow to get that number up before embryo transfer.

Tomorrow my surgery is at 12:30. We have to be at the main center at 11:00 with photo IDs and no perfume. Tonight I'll take Azithromycin and NO Lovenox. They didn't tell me about the Lovenox at first, but I randomly thought "Hmm, maybe I should ask about that" at my appointment today and the nurse told me not to take it tonight or tomorrow or we wouldn't be able to do the retrieval. Good thing I asked!

So that means...no needles today. All day. (Well, other than the blood draw this morning.) I almost forgot what it's like not to have all those shots. Turns out it's pretty nice.

Triggering

2011-09-14T20:52:00.000-04:00

Apparently my ovaries didn't get the message that I always do the least amount of work possible, because they are being little overachievers again. You know something's happening when the nurse looks at the ultrasound screen and says "Holy crap!" Dr. K was quick to reassure me that this is a good thing, much better than the alternative of not being responsive enough. At this morning's appointment we were still on track for triggering Thursday and retrieving Saturday. But then my E2 level came back at 5347 - a big jump from yesterday. So I'm triggering tonight with a nice big Lupron shot, and retrieval will be Friday at 12:30. We're scrambling a bit with our schedules (mostly figuring out how to get Sawyer on and off the bus) but it will all work out.

The one down side - because of the high risk of OHSS I can't have the shot of HCG they usually do after retrieval for luteal support, so instead of progesterone suppositories I have to do progesterone-in-oil shots. Nooooooooo!!! I was really hoping to avoid those this time, but the nurse said if I get a positive pregnancy test we will probably be able to switch to the suppositories at that point, so I'll hold on to that hope.

I'm supposed to trigger at 12:30 a.m., which is WAY past my bedtime these days so I'm going to have to set an alarm to make sure I don't sleep through it. Eric is coming home from a business trip tonight but it's likely that he won't be back in time to do the shot for me, so I'm probably going to have to do it myself. I'm good with the little sub-q needles, but the intramuscular ones are a whole different story. Wish me steady hands and nerves of steel.

Monitoring

2011-09-13T16:12:00.001-04:00

Notes on today's monitoring appointment:

-I still have lots of follicles, so many that Dr. K didn't count (but he did exclaim "Wow, that's amazing!") and the largest ones are in the 15-16 mm range, which is good. When they get to 18 mm it's time to trigger, so we're right on track for Thursday or possibly Friday.

-E2 - 2896. Another too-big rise, so we're reducing my Follistim to 37.5.

-The nurse had to poke me twice drawing my blood today, and on Sunday at Rockville they had to do it three times. She commented that I must feel like a pincushion. Which made me want to count how many needle sticks I've had all together. Are you ready? Since starting this cycle, I have been poked by a needle 55 times. And I have at least 24 more to go.

Diagnosis

2011-09-13T14:01:00.002-04:00

Along with all our infertility drama this summer, we also have been in the process of trying to get a diagnosis for Sawyer. He's been under the Developmental Delay label, but now that he's 6 that label is no longer appropriate according to school system. We've been taking him to a developmental pediatrician but those visits haven't led to any useful information, which has been frustrating given that we have to wait 4-5 months for each appointment. A parent of a child in Sawyer's ECSE class last year mentioned to me that their son had been diagnosed by a local psychologist, Dr. W, so we made an appointment with her. The assessment took place over two days, with a total of 9 hours of testing. I couldn't imagine Sawyer sitting through 9 hours of anything, but Dr. W and her assistant did an amazing job of keeping it fun and light and after the first day he was excited to go back! After the testing it took her a few weeks to write up her reports and recommendations. Soon after this we learned that Sawyer needed to be reevaluated by the special ed team at his new school, so we scheduled all of those assessments too. (The testing with the school psychologist was especially memorable, because the earthquake happened right in the middle of it and we had to evacuate the school! Sawyer was unfazed.) Finally about a month later the results were all in.

The diagnosis: developmental mixed receptive-expressive language disorder and phonological disorder. Basically, this means his brain does not process language in a normal way, so he has a hard time both understanding and producing language. He does not have autism or ADHD, and he is not intellectually disabled - although he scored in the ID range on some of the testing measures, the team believes it's because his learning disabilities are so pervasive. According to Dr. W he has a lot of potential for improvement and growth.

So that's where we are. Even though it's a formidable diagnosis, I feel relieved that we finally have some answers. A name for his difficulties. And there's a lot that we can do to help him understand more and say more, especially in the next few years. At the eligibility meeting all of his teachers expressed what a good kid he is and how hard he tries. One of them pointed out that for Sawyer, daily life is like living in a foreign country where no one speaks your language. It's such a struggle for him, and he still manages to be happy and sweet 99% of the time, which is pretty amazing to me.

The next step is coming up with a new IEP (individualized education program) for him and the school will decide which services he qualifies for. We're hoping at a minimum to get speech, occupational therapy, and possibly extra time in a special ed class at least a few times a week.

Progress

2011-09-12T20:22:00.000-04:00

Because of my high estradiol levels and large follicle count I've been going in every morning for monitoring. Our local office isn't open on weekends, so I have to go to one of three that are, and the closest ones happen to be about 45 minutes away. Getting up before 7 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday to drive 45 minutes = not my happiest time. But things are progressing very nicely. As of this morning I had 40+ follicles, the largest one being 13.5 mm. They are growing steadily and pretty uniformly, which is good. The idea is to have as many eggs as possible mature at the same rate, so that on egg retrieval day they'll be ready to be fertilized. In theory, 40 follicles means 40 eggs, but normally some of them will be immature, and sometimes the doctor can't successfully extract all of the ones that are there.

I was worried about things moving too quickly because E has to go out of town this week from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. Unlike a frozen embryo transfer, it's crucial that he be around for the egg retrieval because 1) I need someone to drive me there and back since I'll be under IV sedation, and 2) we actually need his genetic material this time. So I was relieved when Dr. K said he doesn't think we'll need to change the schedule. Even though my estradiol is high, the rate of increase has slowed down and my follicle growth is right on track. Yay, my follicles!

Saturday: E2 was 898
Sunday: E2 1500+ (started Ganirelix in the pm)
Today: E2 2092

Meds dosage: Follistim 75, Menopur 75, Ganirelix 250, Lovenox 40 (4 injections a day - this is the real deal now!)

Documenting

2011-09-09T16:19:00.001-04:00

I'm going to make an effort this time to document all the details of this IVF cycle, since I didn't do that last time and now I wish I had. Turns out that after seven years, I can't remember what my E2 levels were after 3 days of stims! Shocking, I know. And did you know that doctors don't have to keep your records for longer than 7 years? They can just throw them away - our last fertility clinic did just that. So I apologize in advance for the minutiae ahead...but hey, maybe someone else going through the same thing will find it helpful.

Today is day 4 of stims, and I had my first monitoring appointment this morning (7 a.m., ugh, but at least it was only 10 minutes away!) At monitoring appointments they do an ultrasound and bloodwork. The u/s looked good - my lining was at 8.6, and I had 12 follicles on my right ovary and more than 10 on my left, all under 10mm.

I got the call this afternoon (while I was at the movies seeing "The Help" - I figure since I might get pregnant soon my days of having time to myself might be numbered, so I better live it up now - thinking positive!) and found out that my E2 (estrogen in the blood) is way too high for this early in the cycle, 737. This means that I'm in danger of OHSS, and possibly cancelling the cycle if things don't slow down. So we're reducing the Follistim to 75 tonight and I have to go back in tomorrow morning instead of waiting until Sunday for more monitoring.

Kitchen Pharmacy

2011-09-08T16:58:00.002-04:00

Drum roll please! Here it is - my big box of meds. You're seeing:

-3 cc syringes and 33g needles
-Follistim pen with cartridge inside
-Extra Follistim cartridges
-Menopur
-Enoxoparin (AKA Lovenox)
-Ganerelix
-In the pill bottles:
    -Lupron, which will be my trigger before egg retrieval
    -Azithromycin, antibiotic to take before ER
    -Estradiol, for after embryo transfer
    -Bromocriptine, Metformin and FABB, all of which I've been taking since April for my PCOS and MTHFR

(and I just realized I forgot to include my Levothyroxine and Endometrin. So imagine those are there too.)

I started stims (Follistim 150 and Menopur 75) on Tuesday, which makes today day 3. So far so good, although I have to admit the preparation of all the shots is pretty intimidating. The first time I did it I sat on the couch with my laptop in front of me and watched the demonstration videos from Village while I did the mixing and prepping and dialing and finally injecting. I think I have it down now. Kind of.

Next step: monitoring appointment early tomorrow morning so we can see if anything's actually happening in there!

Labcorp Lady

2011-09-04T21:09:00.000-04:00

To the receptionist at Labcorp:

It is never OK to ask someone if she's pregnant. Even if the lab order calls for tests that are normally done on pregnant women. They're done on infertiles too. It's also not OK to ask if I have any existing kids, and then to exclaim about how far apart my kids will be if I have another one. I am aware of my reproductive timeline.

Thank you,

No, Really, Not Pregnant Me

Meant to Be

2011-09-02T09:02:00.000-04:00

Embryo transfer, with 24 hours of bedrest after: September 22.
Season premieres of The Office, Parks and Rec, and Community: September 22.

Coincidence???

Here We Go...

2011-09-01T10:30:00.001-04:00

(And yep, unfortunately I now have this in my head. What can I say, I came of age in the nineties.)

Yesterday we checked off a lot of boxes to get ready for this cycle:

-mock embryo transfer (me) ✓
-saline sonogram (me) ✓
-infectious disease panel bloodwork (Eric) ✓
-CBC, blood type, etc (me, because our old fertility center threw my records away) ✓
-consent forms signed ✓
-genetic testing waiver signed ✓
-meds delivered ✓

The mock ET went well, and everything looked good on the sonogram. I take my last BCP tomorrow (thank goodness, I have been so nauseous on them!) and on Saturday I have my baseline sonogram and bloodwork. If everything looks ready at that point (ovaries "quiet") I'm scheduled to start stims on Tuesday the 6th.

The meds I'm on are different than last time - different protocol, different brand names, but also I don't think I'll be able to mix them down into one injection. I'm using the Follistim pen (can't mix anything else into that), prefilled Ganerelix syringes (ditto, I think), and Menopur. Add to that the Lovenox I'm already taking (also prefilled syringes) and I'm going to be doing 4 injections a day for a while. And having blood drawn every other day/every day. I'm going to run out of spots pretty quickly. IVF friends, any suggestions??

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-29T12:46:00.001-04:00

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-08-19T17:58:00.001-04:00

It's been a crazy summer. The FET, YW Camp (SO FUN), the miscarriage (really really not so fun), Sawyer's pre-kindergarten evaluations, and now we're gearing up for IVF #3.

After a lot of thought and discussion we decided to switch doctors. Our previous fertility clinic did a lot of great things for us, but increasingly we were running into problems there. For one thing it's about an hour away from where we live - it used to be the closest option, but we have moved three times since we started going there in 2003. In recent years they have downsized, and the office is severely understaffed. It was normal to sit in the waiting room for an hour before an appointment. There is only one coordinating nurse, and many times I called with a question only to find out she had already left for the day around 2:00 pm. I found this extremely stressful. And heaven knows IVF is stressful enough without stuff like that.

Before we could switch to a new clinic, we needed to get a copy of our records to bring to our new doctor. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong. It took an entire month of making phone calls to make this happen. The receptionist kept brushing me off and telling me she would get to it the next day (or week). She was actually quite rude about it and lied several times (she told me more than once that some of the records were stored off site and I later learned that this was not at all true.) Meanwhile, we were starting to get stressed because without the records we'd have to delay for an entire month. We did some research and found out that they are legally required to provide copies of our records within 15 days of requesting them. So we threatened legal action (I had Eric call, he's much better at being a jerk than I am) and guess what? The next day those copies were in my hands. We were still a bit on the fence about switching before this happened, and this made the decision MUCH easier.

We had a consultation with the new doctor the last week in July and were very impressed with him and the office. Besides the fact that they have an office ten minutes from our house (hallelujah!) it's the largest fertility center in our area, their success rates are some of the best in the country, and they have an extremely efficient system in place. This morning was my first real appointment (day 3 ultrasound and bloodwork) and not only did I not have to wait at all once I got there, I was in and out of the office in 20 minutes. It did feel a bit impersonal, like going through a factory, but I think it's a good tradeoff.

The best part about the new center so far is probably my nurse, C. She is about my age, and so nice - totally the kind of person I would want to be friends with. Every time I've left her a voicemail or sent an email she has responded within 1 hour. We haven't spent a lot of time with the new doctor, but he comes highly recommended (we know three couples who have gone to him in the past). He doesn't seem to be as personable as Dr. A, but he definitely knows what he's doing - and I hate to say it, but based on previous experience I'll take medical expertise and a well-run office over bedside manner any day.

Today's appointment went well, hormone levels are where they're supposed to be and uterus looks good. I picked up my prescription for OCPs (birth control pills) and I start taking them tonight. After some tweaking of the schedule to accommodate Erin's wedding (yay!) the rest of the cycle looks like this:

Lupron Trigger Protocol (High Responder Antagonist Protocol)

August 19 - September 2
-Take OCPs.
-Day 3 bloodwork and ultrasound (done.)
-Bloodwork for Eric and me (infectious disease panel for Eric, blood type, varicella and rubella titers for me.)
-Mock embryo transfer.
-Get clearance from hematologist to begin OCPs and Lovenox (done.)
September 3 - Pre-IVF bloodwork and ultrasound; sign all consent forms
September 6 - Start stims (Follistim 150 IU and Menopur 75 IU - these drugs stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple follicles/eggs)
September 11 - Start Ganirelix (this prevents eggs from being released before retrieval)
September 15 - Trigger injection (Lupron - helps mature eggs release so they can be retreived)
September 16 - Bloodwork - LH and P4 testing
September 17 - Egg retrieval (I'll be under IV sedation, which will be awesome)
September 20 or 22 - Embryo transfer. (The exact date will depend on how well the embryos are growing in the lab - the 22nd would be optimal.)

Starting around Sept 11 the dates are a bit more approximate since everything depends on how well I'm responding to the drugs. I might need to be on them for longer or shorter than planned. We'll hope for shorter. I have become pretty tough about needles, I still don't want to be pricked any more than I have to.

Here we go... again!

Chemical

2011-07-12T08:56:00.000-04:00

The results are (finally) all in:

7/1: hCG 30
7/5: 59
7/7: 64
7/11: 9

It's officially a chemical pregnancy. We are very sad, especially after being so surprised to get a positive in the first place. I keep telling people I was prepared to find out the FET didn't work at all, but I wasn't prepared to find out it did work, then maybe, then maybe not, then definitely not. It's been a very long ten days being in limbo, not knowing what will happen. In a way it's a relief not to have to wonder anymore, even though the news isn't good.

Thanks to all of you for your supportive words and prayers - we have needed them all and they have helped! We plan to move on to a fresh cycle soon.

Positive.....?

2011-07-02T16:42:00.024-04:00

Yesterday was the big day - my quantitative hCG blood test. It was also the final day of Young Women camp, where I spent the past week as a level leader. (SO much fun, and so exhausting!) While at camp I tested with HPTs daily and on Wednesday, 7 days past our 5 day transfer (7dp5dt for those in the online infertile world) I got the faintest second line I've ever seen. In fact, I didn't quite believe that it was actually there, it was that light. The lighting in the camp bathrooms - and I'm using the word "bathrooms" here very loosely - was so dim that I had to take the tests outside into the sunlight to read them, which was somewhat comical since I didn't want anyone to know what I was doing, so I had to try to hide them behind my hand while also letting enough sunlight in to read the result. I texted E about that second line but didn't tell anyone else because it was so light I didn't really believe it yet. Thursday (8dp5dt) I tested again, and the line was still faint, but definitely there. I told my camp partner and sent out a few text messages.

Friday morning I had planned to go straight to LabCorp after packing up at camp, hoping I would get there early enough to get my results the same day. My sweet level leader partner Lezlie convinced me to leave early to make sure I wouldn't have to wait all weekend. Because of the 4th of July I would have had to wait until Tuesday, which was unfathomably long. I made it out by 7:40 and didn't get to LabCorp until 8:30 because my GPS kept telling me to turn onto streets that didn't exist (iPhone navigation finally came to the rescue.) I still thought that would be plenty of time. Once I got home, I took a shower, changed my clothes and waited by the phone. And waited. And waited. Finally at 4:30 I called the clinic, where I was very surprised to hear that they had not received my results, that they don't usually put STAT on the hCG lab orders (WHAT?!) and it was normal for them not to get results from LabCorp until 8 or 9 pm, long after the center closes. I just about lost it at this point, after having gone to so much trouble to get to LabCorp early enough in the day, only to have to wait over a 3 day weekend to get results. The receptionist I was talking to has never been exactly compassionate when I've had problems before (just her personality I think) but she seemed to feel sorry for me and promised to leave a note for Lan to call me first thing in the morning, since she was coming in for a transfer. I know I'm hormonal, and exhausted from camp, and a hundred other things, but REALLY? Is it that unreasonable to get hCG results the same day? I have NEVER heard of another center making patients wait overnight or longer to get results. This alone is enough to make me consider going with another clinic if we do this again.

Anyway...the call finally came this morning, and it was worth the wait - I got to hear the words "You're pregnant!" So wonderful to hear. The next bit was not as wonderful. My hCG is only 30. Within the normal range for 9dp5dt, but on the low side. The next test on Tuesday will give us a much better idea of whether this pregnancy is viable. And now you know why I'm postdating this entry. I'm not ready to put the news out there until we know things are developing normally.

Three Little Embryos

2011-06-22T17:02:00.053-04:00

"Three little embryos"... kind of sounds like the start of a very modern fairy tale or nursery rhyme (have you ever noticed that in fairy tales things come in threes? Three bears, three little pigs, three brothers.)

We had our embryo transfer today and I now have three little embryos in my belly. They were thawed early in the morning and all three survived. Dr. A said they were "fair" in quality, a bit more tactful than "not so pretty." E and I dropped Sawyer off at his cousins' house, I took my valium (which made me completely loopy and weird) and drank my water, and we arrived to our appointment right on time. We had to wait for about half an hour because there was another transfer right before ours.

In the waiting room I quickly discovered that I had consumed way too much water beforehand. The instruction sheet said to drink 8 oz one hour before my appointment, because a full bladder helps them visualize the uterus with an abdominal ultrasound. I drank 40 oz, because during my mock transfer I drank 8 and it wasn't nearly enough. Nurse L had to keep bringing me water, and the final amount was 32 oz. So I figured 40 would be plenty. And wow, it definitely was. I was in so much pain I had to pee in small amounts FOUR times beforehand to relieve some pressure. Because water was constantly filtering in, I was still in a lot of pain during the transfer, with the speculum in and the transducer pushing on my belly. OW. Afterwards they want you to lie flat with the stretcher tilted so your feet are higher than your head for 30 minutes. After 10 I knew I wasn't going to make it. Nurse A asked if I wanted a bedpan and I gratefully said yes. Normally I would have been so embarrassed but it was so painful at that point I didn't care (the valium probably helped too.)

The transfer itself was very smooth. First they got me set up on the table and had us verify our names and birth dates with the embryologist to make sure we were matched up to the right straw. Then Dr. A put the speculum in me and cleansed the cervical area to make sure nothing harmful would be introduced with the catheter. At the same time Nurse A worked the ultrasound to get a good view of where everything was going to go. When it was time for the embryos they dimmed the lights (bright light can be harmful to them) and the embryologist brought in the straw (kind of like a catheter) that held our embryos. Dr A very slowly threaded the catheter through my cervix and up to the top of my uterus. The embryos are suspended in a liquid solution with a tiny air bubble next to them so that on the ultrasound the doctor can see where they land - the embryos themselves are too small at this point to be seen with the naked eye. They went right where they were supposed to. I wasn't able to fully appreciate the moment because of other urgent needs but it is an amazing process. We got a picture of the little guys/gals, which I'll post once I get a chance to scan it.

And now, we wait. I'm on two days of bedrest (only getting up to use the bathroom, although I admit I haven't been that strict about it). My parents and baby sister are in town so my mom and Tanne are coming over tomorrow to entertain me, which I'm very excited about. We have a busy weekend spending time with my family, and on Monday I leave for Young Women camp for five days. I think this two week wait is going to fly by.

Not So Pretty

2011-05-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had an appointment to make sure the birth control pills are suppressing my ovaries. Lan (the coordinating nurse) was out of town so they were running late and we had to sit there waiting for over an hour. I didn't think I was going to make it back home in time to get Sawyer off the bus. This is where living an hour away from the center can be problematic. Finally Dr. A was ready to see us, and everything looked good. I'm suppressed (in more ways than one now, haha) and the cyst is shrinking. The hormones are doing their job, beyond just making me really really cranky! I got the go ahead to start Lupron, 20 units a day.

Eric came with me to the appointment because we also had to sign our consent forms. The forms give basic medical information about the various procedures and their risks, as well as the risks of pregnancy. You sign off on those, I guess so you can't later sue the center if things go wrong. Then you have to decide what will happen to any leftover embryos. Since we only have 3 it's not likely that we'll have any left, but we're thinking ahead to fresh cycles in the future where that is a possibility. They take you through every possible scenario - for instance, if your husband dies, what do you want to do with the embryos? If you die but your husband's still alive? What if you both die? Or what if you get divorced? Yeah, all really fun to think about. For each scenario there are several options - donate to another couple, donate to research, store indefinitely, or discard. So we made all those decisions and signed off on them with the notary, Carol at the front desk - who by the way is hilarious. (Our decisions: If I die, discard; if Eric dies, discard; if we both die, donate to another couple; divorce, discard. I would rather donate to research, but Eric is not comfortable with that.)

Then we discussed our embryos and how many we should transfer. This part was pretty discouraging, because after reviewing the images taken 7 years ago, Dr. A said "They are...not so pretty...no offense." (To which I wanted to respond, "Hey buddy, tell YOUR embryos to look in a mirror sometime!") Last time we did IVF we used the best 2 embryos to transfer, which was obviously a good choice because it got us Sawyer. Unfortunately the ones we left behind are much lower quality, and will likely be even worse after thawing (the thawing process can sometimes damage embryos; interestingly, the amount of time they have been frozen is irrelevant.) Two are blastocycts, but not expanded, and one is a morula, which is not great at all.

We are doing assisted hatching, which could help, and the fact that we've had a positive result in the past works in our favor. But still, Dr. A gives us about a 20% chance with these embryos and told us to be prepared for a negative result. Which is kind of funny, because that's already the way I've been feeling about this cycle. I'm prepared for it not to work. But we are still going to give it our all, because we both feel strongly about giving these embryos a chance. As far as how many, we decided to go ahead and transfer all three - since they are lower quality the chances of all three implanting are "zero to minuscule...it would be an absolute miracle." So I feel good about that.

I also asked how likely it is that things will go according to schedule and he said "Extremely likely...98% chance." REs are really good at speaking in percentages. So I need to reschedule Sawyer's opthamologist appointment that's the same day as embryo transfer.

Next step: I stop birth control pills on Tuesday, go in for another ultrasound on Friday and start Estrace that day if everything looks good.

I'm Only In It For The Drugs

2011-05-26T21:11:00.001-04:00

I'm on a lot of medications right now. Like, a LOT. Here's the list (full disclosure: I have to look at my list on my iPhone to remember them all.)

-levothyroxine (for hypothyroid)
-metformin (for PCOS)
-bromocriptine (for elevated prolactin, probably also related to PCOS)
-birth control pills (part of FET cycle)
-prenatal vitamins (doesn't hurt to be prepared)
-vitamin D (because I am always pasty white)
-baby aspirin (increase blood flow to uterus)
-Lovenox (to prevent blood clots, since I am "blessed" with Factor V Leiden and MTHFR.)

The last one is what is causing all the trouble, and not just because it stings like a mofo. My insurance doesn't seem to want to cover it. At first they would let my pharmacy fill it, but only 6 syringes at a time. With a $10 copay, that's actually pretty reasonable compared to the out of pocket price (at least ten times that amount, even for the generic, which explains their reluctance to pay for it.) It was just kind of a bother to make such frequent trips to Target. Then last time when I tried to fill it I got rejected - they now will only give me 6 syringes every 23 days. Which is pretty useless since I need to take it daily or I could, you know, die from a pulmonary embolism. (Also, 23 days? Why not 20? Or 30? Or 42? Who came up with 23?) I've talked to several customer service reps who have been about as useless as their current Lovenox policy. It's supposed to be a straightforward process: have my doctor call them and tell them I need to take it every day, but that's happened twice already and for some reason that hasn't been enough to change it. Thankfully my hematologist had some samples in the office and she let me have enough to cover me for the next few days while we battle things out.

Watch out Cigna. I'm willing to fight for a long time to earn the privilege of not dying of a blood clot.

Scheduled

2011-05-13T15:57:00.003-04:00

Big news today - well, not Osama Bin Laden-big, but infertility saga big. I'm scheduled! All the preliminary testing is done and we are officially cycling, gearing up for the big FET.

Here's the rundown, for anyone interested in such things (and for my future reference - I can't even count the number of times I've gone back to posts about our first IVF to remind myself of what happened.)

5/9 - Baseline sonogram & bloodwork. Begin birth control pills and Lovenox injections*. (Done.) The sonogram didn't go quite as expected since we found that I have a large ovarian cyst, but the bcps should shrink it down. We hope.

5/27 - Sonogram. Begin taking Lupron, 20 units a day (sub-q injections.)

5/30 - last birth control pill

6/3 - Sonogram & bloodwork. Begin Estrace (not sure yet if it will be in pill or suppository form, but the important thing is it's NOT an injection!) Reduce Lupron to 10 units a day.

6/7 - Start doxycycline (antibiotic) 100 mg, 2x day for 15 days. Eric takes it for 10 days.

6/10 - Sonogram & bloodwork.

6/16 - Sonogram & bloodwork.

6/17 - Begin progesterone. Suppositories, not PIO injections. Hallelujah! With Sawyer I did PIO shots for something like 16 weeks, and I had nerve pain in my butt for a good two years after. I hear the suppositories are messy, but hey, I'm a mom, I can deal with messy.

6/22 - Embryo transfer.

7/1 - Beta test.

The last half of the schedule is extremely tentative and there's almost no chance everything will actually occur on those days, since it all depends on my body's reaction to the drugs. And if there's anything we know by now, it's that my body is unpredictable these days.

I've been on the phone all day scheduling appointments and ordering medications - from two different mail-order pharmacies, since apparently Village is out of Lupron. It was pretty funny talking to the lady at Freedom Drug, which we used for our last IVF in 2004. When she verified my address the one she had was 3 moves ago. It's funny how many things change if you just wait 7 years.

*I've been doing the Lovenox injections for 5 days and I'm already running out of non-bruised skin on my belly. And it really hurts, every time. How did I do this for nine months?

Stats

2011-04-15T16:22:00.000-04:00

Invasive fertility tests: 6 (HSG, SHG, hysteroscopy, endometrial biopsy, mock embryo transfer, pituitary MRI)

New things we've found wrong with me from said tests: 5 (high prolactin, high TSH, blocked fallopian tube, endometritis, PCOS)

Blood draws done in the past 2 weeks: 6

Blood draws where they had to stick me more than once: 3 (on one occasion it took 4 pokes. Nice going, LabCorp.)

Medications I'm taking daily: 7 (surely this is excessive, especially since I haven't even started cycling yet.)

Voicemails left for my coordinating nurse: haven't even tried to count.

My ability to focus on anything other than this FET cycle: negligible.

One Down

2011-04-01T12:30:00.001-04:00

HSG=DONE.

Thank goodness. I was so nervous going into it because last time I had one (almost 7 years ago) it was very painful. Hollering obscenities painful. The main purpose of an HSG is to find out if the fallopian tubes are open and basically in working condition. They inject dye into the uterus and through the tubes while they watch on an x-ray machine. If a tube is not open it can be pretty painful as the dye tries to get through, and that's what happened to me last time. I ended up having a diagnostic laparoscopy to investigate the non-cooperating tube and they found that the tube was fine, but I had stage 1 endometriosis.

I was sweating the whole drive to the clinic yesterday. I decided not to have Eric come with me because I realized he wouldn't even be allowed in the room during the procedure anyway (since they use x-rays they limit who can be in there), and it was getting complicated figuring out how to get Sawyer off the bus and not interrupt his schedule too much. So E stayed home to get Sawyer, which simplified things and turned out to be just fine. I told Dr. A how nervous I was and he promised me he would go very slowly to minimize the cramping. I also took 800 mg of Advil an hour before the best and popped 1/2 a hydrocodone tablet, which really helped with the anxiety and probably the pain too.

The test went great. It did hurt, but it was totally manageable and I didn't swear at the nurse. The results were the same as before, one tube didn't open, but Dr. A feels that we're OK to proceed with the FET since there doesn't seem to be any swelling or fluid buildup. (If you're like me and you wonder why the tubes matter for IVF/FET - which bypasses the egg traveling from the ovaries - here's a good explanation.)

I also had a brief consult with Dr. A to talk about my recent bloodwork. My TSH (thyroid) levels are higher than they like to see - below 2.7, and mine is at a 3.02. Not a level where most doctors will treat you, but too high for fertility cycling. My prolactin levels have also been consistently high, which is concerning, so I have to schedule an MRI to make sure I don't have a tumor on my pituitary gland. From what I've been reading online, hypothyroid and elevated prolactin can sometimes be related, so that would make sense. It also explains why my periods have been completely wacky the past few months. I've been on levothyroxine for the thyroid for about a week and I'll probably start on meds for the prolactin soon once we rule out a tumor.

All of this is throwing me for a loop since last time we did IVF my tests were all completely normal (aside from the mild endo.) Now it seems like we keep finding things. I'm trying to take it all one step at a time. On to the next test.

Waiting

2011-03-28T14:05:00.010-04:00

There are lots of things about infertility that are hard. Invasive testing, surgeries, needles, mood swings, being on a constantly moving emotional roller coaster, the list goes on. Someone asked me the other day what the hardest part is. I answered without hesitation: WAITING.

Every step along the way of an IVF cycle involves waiting, which can literally add up to months, even years. You wait for your initial appointment. You wait for your period to start. You wait for test results, then wait to schedule yet another test. You wait for your estrogen to go up, or your lining to thicken, or your estrogen to go down. You wait, yet again, for the nurse to call you back (this is what I'm waiting for today.) And the biggest wait of all, where after all the testing and procedures you wait on pins and needles to find out if it all worked or if you get to start the waiting process all over again.

This cycle has had even more waiting than normal because for the first time EVER since hitting puberty, my period was late. Ten days late. They put me on provera to get things going, which worked much more quickly than it was supposed to, which means it's anyone's guess how long it will last and if I can go through the testing I've scheduled (period has to end before the tests.) Speaking of which, here are the dates for those tests. Very tentative at this point because of my screwed-up cycle.

3/31 - HSG (SO nervous about this one, and I really wish Eric could come with me. Still trying to work that out.)

4/5 - mock embryo transfer

4/6 - SHG

4/7 - hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy

If all goes well we're looking at a transfer date somewhere from mid-May to early June.

If I can wait that long.

Obligatory Catch-Up Post

2011-03-02T08:00:00.009-05:00

In 2010...

Sawyer turned 5 years old, and is attending the special education preschool program again with his beloved teacher Ms. Brenda. We're trying to get him as ready as possible for kindergarten in the fall, and at this point it's looking like he'll do well in a mainstreamed class. It's amazing how much he has improved. Still no diagnosis but we're working on it along with his teachers and developmental pediatrician.

I planted more tulips. I will not rest until every inch of flower bed is full of tulips!

We finally replaced the dirty white carpet in our family room with hardwood - so much easier to keep clean!

We had lots of playdates with cousins Caroline and Mary Grace, always Sawyer's most favorite friends.

I went to Girls Camp as a stake level leader, and it was the highlight of my summer. I'm now working with the young women at church, and I get to be a level leader again this summer - yay!

The other highlight of my summer was spending two whole weeks at the Outer Banks with my family. Relaxing, refreshing, rejuvenating...take your pick. Eric even came for about 5 days.

Penny picked up a bad case of scabies at the boarding kennel while we were gone. It took us 3 vet visits to finally figure out why she was so itchy all the time. Poor doggie in the Cone of Shame.

In September we adopted another rescue dog, Duncan. He's a 1 year old Golden Retriever and loves every human being in the world like crazy. We love him too, even though my vacuuming has tripled since we brought his furry butt home.

Sawyer had a blast being Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. He was a big hit at the town parade - even though he wasn't actually in it. Kids from the floats kept yelling "Hey! I see Buzz Lightyear!"

We attended the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30. Sawyer loved it, especially when we had to force our way onto a packed Metro car to get there. He kept telling everyone we saw "I'm going to a rally!"

I completed the Couch to 5k program in preparation to run my first 5k (the "Freeze Your Gizzard" in Leesburg) but unfortunately got injured the week before the race (not from running - from Duncan running into my shin! No break, just a bone bruise but the doctor was scared about blood clots.) I'll do another one someday.

Maybe.

In December Sawyer lost his first tooth. He didn't even tell us it was loose, I just went to put him in the bath and noticed that it was missing. We found it on the kitchen floor.

We stayed in Virginia for the holidays this year. For Thanksgiving we had dinner with Robbie, Michael, Erin, and her friend Avery, and a fun brunch at Megan and Ryan's the next day. We spent Christmas Eve attending church with Megan, Ryan and their kids and had dinner at their home (where Sawyer lost his second tooth - Santa and the Tooth Fairy came the same night!)

We took Sawyer to his first Kennedy Center performance - The Nutcracker. He loved it and, to our great surprise, sat still through the whole thing.

After Christmas we flew to Utah to see my little sister Tori get married to Billy Strong during one of the biggest snowstorms of the year. It was wonderful to be there for their special day as well as to spend time with my mom. Another shining moment was spending New Year's Eve in a sports bar called Wing Nutz trying desperately not to laugh as a group of very white Provo rappers "performed" a few feet away from us.

Concerts! I got a few good ones in this year - Ray Lamontagne and David Gray at Merriweather Post Pavilion in August, The Weepies at State Theater in November, Joshua Radin at the 9:30 Club February 15, and David Gray again just last week at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda. The last one was quite possibly the pinnacle of my entire concert-going career - front row, dead center, acoustic tour. Perfection.

Anyone still out there?

2011-03-01T17:54:00.000-05:00

Wow, 11 months. That's even longer than I thought.

You can probably guess what brings me back - the same reason that starting me blogging in the first place: We're getting ready to embark on more Adventures in Infertility.

Last time on A.I.I.... Three years ago we visited our R.E. to plan the transfer of our remaining 3 frozen blastocysts (embryos). All systems were go...and then we discovered that our insurance wasn't going to cover a single cent of it. So we decided to save up some more money and wait a while longer. In the meantime we discovered Sawyer's developmental delays, moved and bought a house, and Eric changed jobs several times.

Finally, we seem to have reached an equilibrium. We're settled into our new home, Sawyer is doing great, and we have enough money in the bank to proceed. The time is right. AND joy of joys, it looks like our insurance is actually going to be very helpful this time around (if our paperwork is correct, everything should be covered at 90%.)

I had a consult with Dr. A on February 21 and we have a game plan. Since it's been so long since our last IVF, I need to undergo all the screening tests again. That will include:

-Baseline transvaginal ultrasound
-Preconception bloodwork/female infectious disease panel (more bloodwork)
-HSG X-ray (this was the really painful one for me last time; this time I will be armed with narcotics)
-SHG/pelvic exam
-Hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy (another ouchie)
-Mock embryo transfer

If all goes well with the testing, transfer should be sometime around mid-April.

As soon as my next cycle begins I can schedule the tests and get the ball rolling. It feels slightly terrifying to be plunging into all this again, even more so than the first time, because now I know what it entails. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. But I feel ready, definitely more ready than I ever have been before. Probes, shots, stress, hormones, headaches, hope. Bring it on!

Chocolate Milk

2010-04-06T10:11:00.000-04:00

Sawyer's favorite food is chocolate milk. He will drink it all day, every day if we let him. I buy the Nesquik powder so we can use organic milk to mix it into, and because it has less sugar than Hershey's syrup or Ovaltine (and did you know Hershey's is mostly high fructose corn syrup? Yuck.) I also like the powder rather than the premixed stuff because I can put just a little of it into his cup and his "chocolate milk" is more like regular milk with just a smidgen of chocolate.

The other day before dinner I asked him what he wanted to drink and of course he asked for chocolate milk. When I went into the kitchen he followed me saying "No no no no Mama! I want Daddy to make it!" I told him it was the same thing, Mama could make it just as well as Daddy. He insisted: he only wanted chocolate milk made by Daddy. So I watched Eric make it. It turns out Daddy has a different strategy - he adds 3 scoops of powder (the box says to use 2) and sometimes also adds a bit of half and half.

So it's true. Daddy really does make better chocolate milk. But Mama's might be less likely to give you type 2 diabetes.

Budding Artist

2010-03-27T17:19:00.000-04:00

Sawyer has become obsessed with writing and drawing lately, which I'm thrilled about, because until very recently he had absolutely no interest in picking up a writing instrument of any kind. Now he'll sit at the table for long periods of time tracing letters and numbers and shapes, and getting more creative too. Here's his first recognizable drawing: "a face with arms."

Often he asks me to draw something for him so he can try to copy it. It's challenging for me since I'm not an artist (AT ALL). I do OK when he asks for a puppy, or a tree, or even Lightning McQueen. But yesterday he came up with a new one: "Mama, draw windy." So I drew a tree with lines going by to signify wind. Then he said, "Draw germs." Um...germs just look like little bugs, right? So I drew something resembling little spiders. Then, "Draw penguin germs." Sorry son. I can't draw that without doing some research. How about a smiley face instead?

OK, That's Enough

2010-02-16T09:13:00.008-05:00

A New Year, and a New Layout

2010-01-08T10:43:00.005-05:00

In lieu of making New Year's resolutions, I decided to do a blog makeover. I'm still tweaking some things, so if you come by during the next few days and things are a bit wonky, that's why. (Don't you just love the word "wonky"? Maybe I should resolve to say "wonky" more often.)

***Thanks to André for informing me that the comment form wasn't working - I think it's back up now. Also, I seem to have lost some of my blog roll in the left sidebar, so if you don't see your blog there (and you'd like it to be there) please let me know.

More Sawyerisms

2010-01-04T15:14:00.004-05:00

Sawyer weighs 34 lbs now, just over the 30 lbs required to sit in a booster seat in the car. Although our car seat can handle up to 65 lbs, we've recently had several incidents where Eric took the car seat to work by accident, or the car seat cover was being washed of pee and Chick-Fil-A milkshake spills and I needed to go somewhere, so we finally went and bought a booster seat. I asked Sawyer if he was ready to ride in a booster seat like a big boy. He looked at me excitedly. "A monster seat?!" From "monster seat" we got to "mooster seat" and finally to "booster seat." But once in a while he still only hears the "-ster" part and calls it a monster seat. I like it.

Last night I heard Sawyer talking in his sleep. Just one loud exclamation: "I like pizza!" I do too son. I do too.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:13:00.025-05:00

We've had a wonderful Christmas in our new home. I was neglectful today and didn't take enough pictures as we opened gifts and visited with family - a sign that I was really enjoying myself. If I remember to get the camera out, it usually means I'm bored. But I did take a lot of pictures of our decorations a few days ago, aren't you excited? Here's our tree in the day...

....and at night.
and closer up.

And the tree in our front room. We bought this artificial tree a few years back, but every year I can't resist buying a real one, so we end up with two trees.

Stockings hung by the chimney, and a sleepy dog in the corner.

The entry.

Sawyer was so excited this morning to find a basketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa Watts.
He shoots...
and he scores!

We opened gifts (Eric: Battlestar Gallactica Blu-ray box set, Wii console; Me: food processor, Wii Fit; Sawyer: board games, V-Tech laptop, fort building set from Grandma Toone, books from SueSue and Granddad) and around 11:30 Erin, Robbie, Megan, Ryan, Caroline and Mary Grace came over. We had brunch together (egg casserole, cheese grits and monkey muffins) and then exchanged MORE presents. We were sad my grandfather couldn't make it - he had planned on coming but wasn't feeling well. After all the gift giving and visiting we were all tired so we put on a movie for Sawyer and Caroline upstairs and the grownups watched Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. I say "watched", but really everyone but Eric and me fell asleep within the first 20 minutes. I got a cute shot of Ryan and MG:
Even Penny joined in on the napping. Once I took off her Christmas pajamas, that is. She was too humiliated to sleep while she had them on.

Pretty soon it was time for dinner.

We had standing rib roast with port gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, haricots verts, homemade rolls with creamed honey, and cranberry apple Jello salad. Dessert was my dad's famous ice cream pie (Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream smooshed into premade Oreo cookie crusts.) I meant to get a picture of all of us eating, but of course I forgot. But I think everyone enjoyed it, and we had a great time chatting and being together. I'm so glad we had family members close this year and we could spend time with them, especially Robbie who came all the way from Miami. We missed my parents and Tori and Tanne a lot, and Eric's family too - it's always hard that we can't see everyone every year.

The past year has brought lots of changes for our little family, and many new opportunities. Tonight I'm feeling very grateful for all I have - especially the people I love the most. Merry Christmas everyone!

Snow! Snow! and even more snow!

2009-12-24T00:26:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we had kind of a big snow storm. Kind of big as in the biggest storm in decades. The report for our area said we got 19", but because it was so windy we had drifts much deeper than that. Church was canceled, and the last two days of school before Christmas break were called off. They even shut down the federal government on Monday, although to be fair they have shut down the government for much less. I sure hope terrorists never figure out how to control the weather, because all it takes is a few inches of snow to bring us to our knees.

Here's our front yard as the snow was still falling. That dark figure in the background is Eric, shoveling our driveway for the third time that day.

This is what I found when I opened the front door. Our hiding front stoop (around 2.5 feet high) had just about disappeared.

This is what our deck looked like the next morning.

And here's a little boy who was very happy to get out of the house by Monday morning.

And a dog who hates the snow so much that she refused to go outside even to relieve herself. That was not fun. Thankfully, once we dug a path for her onto the deck she relented.

Favorites and Not-So-Favorites

2009-12-09T16:31:00.005-05:00

It's that time of the year again, when everywhere you go stores are playing Christmas music. Or holiday music, if you're more inclined to celebrate Hannukah or Kwanzaa or Festivus (anyone know any Festivus carols?) I love most Christmas music, but if I really want to get in the mood (the Christmas mood, get your mind out of the gutter!) I'll listen to traditional hymns and carols. This one might be my all-time favorite.

Or this:

Lest you think I am a fuddy-duddy (did I really just type "fuddy-duddy"?) I do like some of the more modern offerings, like this:

And this:

And even this:

Now for the question I was thinking of as I started this post: If you could eliminate any Christmas song, completely get rid of it and never hear it again, which one would you choose?

I don't need to think about this one for very long; it would definitely be "The Little Drummer Boy." It is ridiculously repetitive and contains far too much onomatopoeia (although if I'm being honest, the only good onomatopoeia is NO onomatopoeia.) The only rendition that does it justice is Dwight Schrute's.

Christmas Confession

2009-12-04T16:53:00.008-05:00

I am almost 32 years old, and part of me still wants an American Girl doll for Christmas. When I was a kid they only had the historical dolls representing various periods of American history, and I wanted a Kirsten doll something crazy. My friend Ashley had the Samantha doll with all the accessories and I practically boiled with jealousy every time we played with it. My parents never had the budget to get me a Kirsten - actually, I suspect that they could afford one Kirsten doll, but not five, and since I had four sisters it wouldn't really be fair for only me to get one. American Girl retired the Kirsten doll this year, so it's officially too late for my wish to come true.

Don't cry, I'll be OK. I'm getting a Wii.

But if I had a daughter, I would TOTALLY get her an American Girl doll, probably this one, even if she didn't want one, just so I could play with it too.

Let the Renovations Continue!

2009-11-23T12:52:00.005-05:00

After taking a break from fixing-upping, I'm back in the saddle. On Saturday Eric installed our new kitchen faucet. We had been planning to wait until we could buy a new cast iron sink, but decided to go ahead with the faucet when the old one started dripping incessantly. Here's the old one (forgive the dirty dishes, I had just made rolls):

The pull-out sprayer was nice, but I've heard from a couple of different sources that they are well known for not being very durable. Here's the new one.

All of the hardware in the kitchen now matches! Yay!

Next up: Figuring out how to get a huge felt board off the wall in Sawyer's room, priming and painting the walls (I still haven't picked out a color, I'm going to Home Depot to pick up samples right now), and installing new baseboards. When that's done, we can move his furniture and toys in and we will finally have our master bedroom back! It's starting to feel ridiculous having our whole family sleep in one room with three empty bedrooms just sitting there. I have an iron wall hanging that will go above the pantry in the kitchen, and one that goes over the back door. I also have more curtains and rods coming for the family room - I decided we needed them on the windows next to the fireplace too. More befores and afters to come!

Firelight

2009-11-09T09:10:00.002-05:00

I'm one of the few that still thinks SNL is really, really funny, mostly because of Andy Samberg's digital shorts. I had to share this one.

Very topical as I just bought my tickets to see Twilight and New Moon next week the night of the premier. I can't wait!

Vegas Baby!

2009-10-26T21:26:00.023-04:00

I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Las Vegas. Girls only. No kids. No husbands. No cooking, cleaning, picking up or dropping off. Just girl talk, good food, 85˚ weather, shopping, and less than 8 hours of cumulative sleep. It was amazing.

These are the girls I got to spend time with:

And this was the reason for it all:

This was my fifth time seeing Rob Thomas. It only takes once to realize that the guy is freakishly talented, and he puts everything he's got into each performance. This time was no different. It helped that we had second row seats, and that the Pearl (in the Palms Casino) is an amazing smallish venue. I didn't keep track of the set list, but luckily the lovely Tiburon of Shark Bait did it for me in great detail. She got lots of great video and much better pictures than my iPhone can produce (one of these days I'll get a compact digital camera - my Canon EOS never gets past security, which is a bummer, because I could get some pretty sweet shots with my long-focus lens. Oh well.) Here's the best shot I managed to get, during "Fire on the Mountain."

And another kind of cool one, I think this was during "Sunday Morning New York Blue."

I did get some pretty OK audio, although it takes me a few seconds to start recording so I cut off the beginning of these songs. (Also it took me a while to figure out that it was loud enough that I didn't need to hold my iPhone up to record. Just holding it in my lap while recording worked much better. Duh.)

My favorite moments of the evening were, predictably, the acoustic ones. He covered Tracy Chapman's "Baby Can I Hold You," which was a welcome surprise - I have always loved that song. He more than did it justice. If you listen closely you can hear Tiburon professing her love for Rob, and you can hear me singing along. I like to pretend I was up there on the stage singing with him. I'm weird.

"Baby Can I Hold You"

Rob explained that he had run into a couple that day who told him they got engaged at one of his concerts a couple of years before. They were in Las Vegas on their honeymoon and were at the concert that night. "Ever the Same" was their wedding song, and he dedicated it to them. It's a really sweet version.

"Ever the Same"

He also played "Smooth," which isn't quite as awesome without Santana, but is still one of the sexiest songs ever if you ask me. I like the classical guitar action on this one. (This video is from his Soundstage performance, not the show I was at, but it's almost the same arrangement. He had Zach Filkins, the guitarist from OneRepublic* accompany him.)

And I just have to post this because it highlights his best dance moves: the hip circle, the chest pat, the jump up and down in place, the crouch, and the point at the audience.

Although it is missing the finger twirl, demonstrated here (at around 1:04).

Seriously though, I love his dancing because he puts his entire body into his performance. The amount of passion he exudes is incredible. (I mean passion for music. Ahem.)

Sing to me Rob. Sing in my ear.

Thanks so much for an unbelievable weekend ladies! Thanks especially to the gorgeous Mindi of Word to Your Mother, whom I've never met but who let me have her ticket. I hope your generosity comes back to you in spades. Or in the form of free concert tickets. Or whatever you wish.

*Speaking of OneRepublic, they were the opening band. They were AMAZING. Ryan Tedder, the lead singer, has one of those voices that is even better live than recorded. He was jumping from microphone to keyboards to guitar and back, crooning and belting and generally blowing me away. I will be buying their new album for sure. Check them out, they are way more than just "Apologize."

Now Playing on my iPod...

2009-09-25T17:58:00.006-04:00

Like a lot of people, I go through phases with the music I listen to. For the past few weeks I've been solidly in a Weepies phase. They are wonderful. Happy, thoughtful, wistful, melodic folk/pop. Here are a few of my favorites.

The first Weepies song I heard, which I still think is one of their best.

Here's the song I wish we had danced to at our wedding. (And in case you're curious, here's the song we actually danced to. I know, SO cheesy, but it's meaningful to us from our high school days, and it hit the radio waves in 1993, the year we met. Please don't judge me.)

And one more for good measure - I sing this one all day long. It's Eric's favorite.

Now it's your turn. What are you listening to these days?

Babies and Daddies

2009-09-15T10:28:00.004-04:00

Waiting for the bus yesterday:

Sawyer: Look, Mama, look at all the baby lions!

Me: ....you mean dandelions?

Sawyer: Yeah, Daddy lions!

First Day of School

2009-09-08T11:48:00.008-04:00

At 10:15 this morning Sawyer climbed on the school bus for the very first time. He's attending an ECSE (early childhood special education) preschool class that meets at an elementary school. We were nervous about how he would take to the bus since he sometimes has a hard time separating from mom, but he did great and didn't cry at all. As he climbed up the steps he proudly told the bus driver "Sawyer's a big boy!" The one moment that had me worried was when he stopped at the top of the steps and turned around to see if I was following him, and when he saw that I wasn't he said "Mama?" and looked crestfallen. But the assistant helped him get buckled into his seat and soon he was telling her all about the chocolate milk in his lunch box. I didn't get any pictures of him actually getting on the bus (I was too focused on keeping myself together until he was gone!) but we took some pictures on the front stoop.

Mario Pepsi

2009-09-07T12:46:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how this is related to Labor Day, but I like it!

Yo Gabba Gabba=Freakiest Show Ever

2009-09-02T13:02:00.007-04:00

This is Sawyer while watching Yo Gabba Gabba for the first time.

He had the same expression on his face (disbelief mixed with intrigue mixed with fear) for about five minutes, then he turned to me and said "watch Diego?"

UPDATE: For the past two mornings Sawyer has asked for Yo Gabba Gabba immediately after waking up. He loves it now! I guess it grew on him.

I love this kid

2009-08-29T17:11:00.003-04:00

This got forwarded to me and I had to repost. In about 14 years the clubs won't know what hit them.

By the way, the little girl pretty much looks like me when I'm dancing, only I'm much older and fatter. HOT.

iPod Song Lyrics Shuffle

2009-08-23T12:12:00.012-04:00

I'm a sucker for iPod memes!

Here's how this one works:

1. Put your iPod/MP3 player on shuffle
2. Write the first line[ish] to the first 25 songs
3. Put an astrix next to it or cross it out when someone guesses one right
4. Put your guesses in a comment.
5. Looking them up on Google (or any other search engine) is CHEATING [but I don't really care if you do, as a last resort. :D ]

Ready....GO!

1. ~~Well the truth it fell so heavy, like a hammer through the room, that I could choose another over her~~ Ray LaMontagne "Lesson Learned"

2. Worms don't dance, they haven't got the balls, no matter how do you do, it's just you do that's all

3. ~~Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head~~ The Smiths "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

4. I went looking for someone I left behind, yeah but no one, just a stranger did I find

5. I can feel the earth begin to move, I hear my needle hit the groove, and spiral through another day

6. Tarzan wasn't a ladies man, he'd just come along and scoop'em under his arm like that

7. There's strange weather in the back of the room, and she's pretty Jessie's spinning the tunes

8. Been up all night staring at you, wondering what's on your mind

9. My friend and me looking through her red box of memories, faded I'm sure, but love seems to stick in her veins you know

10. ~~I can't help my feelings, I'll go out of my mind, these players come to get me 'cause they'd like my behind~~ Weezer "Hash Pipe"

11. I remember it well, the first time that I saw your head 'round the door, cause mine stopped working

12. Come in, come in, come in to my world I've got to show, show, show you

13. ~~Goodbye, goodbye, every day I look across the office floor, there you were, your hair down to your legs and your legs down to the floor~~ Flight of the Conchords, "Leggy Blonde"

14. ~~Galileo's head was on the block, the crime was looking up the truth~~ Indigo Girls "Galileo"

15. Nothing here to fear, I'm just sitting around being foolish when there is work to be done

16. You know and I've been wondering, you know all the way home, whether the world will see I'm a better man than others by far

17. I don't feel as if I know you, you take up all my time, the days are long and the nights will blow you away cause the sun don't shine

18. Paul is making me nervous, Paul is making me scared

19. Those who are dead are not dead, they're just living in my head

20. ~~Take the sky for example, a canvas of a billion suns, but our local hero shines them out by day~~ The Weepies "Hideaway"

21. You say adjust your heels girl, they stick out like an anchor, and don't touch the flowers cause you can't hear them well

22. My life's like a migrant's, there's not a moment of silence, and so I take up my time with you

23. I guess I'm alright, guess I'm alright, I guess I'm doing fine, guess I'm doing fine

24. On the way home, this car hears my confessions, I think tonight I'll take the long way

25. ~~I'm packed and I'm holding, I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden~~ Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life" (BTW if you don't know all the lyrics to this song, you probably don't want to.)

Overheard in the Ward

2009-08-21T12:40:00.002-04:00

I have a new favorite Mormon blog: Overheard in the Ward . It's like the great Overheard in New York but without all the profanity. Enjoy!

Yard Stuff

2009-08-17T15:34:00.005-04:00

One thing we learned quickly is that buying a house with a big yard = doing a lot of yard work. We've been spending a lot of time outside. I love it. I can't seem to keep up with the weeds, but I guess we're going for a "natural" look. Yeah, that's it. Anyway, here are some pictures of what we've been doing.

Here's the front flower bed before:
I wish I had remembered to take a picture before we started weeding, because this whole area was completely covered in weeds. You couldn't even see the brick pavers. We couldn't tell what was a weed and what was a "real" plant, so we decided to start from (almost) scratch. At this point we had ripped out pretty much everything except for the hostas and a large bush. Eric is in the process of cutting down a tree that was blocking the front windows.

Here are the flowers I've put in:
In the forefront are vincas (annuals) and behind those are blanket flowers (perennials.)

I repurposed the off-white planters that were on the stoop - you can see one in the first picture, they were pretty shabby looking. I gave them a good scrubbing and painted them black. Here's a closeup of one, surrounded by my container herbs - sage, thyme, basil and parsley. I moved them out front because that way I remember to water them!

And the front stoop from farther back (I should have taken down that flier in the door, whoops.)

Next steps: Replacing the brass lights and house numbers (that's pretty much the theme of all our decorating in this house!) and get a new welcome mat that won't fade in the sun.

This is a before picture that's prettier than the after, because it's not blooming anymore.
Sawyer watering the giant hosta. It's doing great considering it was neglected for a year. I love its blooms. You can see the black-eyed Susan I tried to plant right in front of him but it doesn't look like it's going to make it.

I hung some geraniums in baskets on the pergola in front of the house. I've loved red geraniums ever since my mission - all the houses in French villages have them in their window boxes in the spring.

And...Indoor Stuff

2009-08-17T14:35:00.031-04:00

Our indoor improvements were at a standstill for a while because of illness, travel, changing jobs, and working outside. But no more! The past couple of weeks we've been doing a lot of work. Here's the proof.

Breakfast Room: To refresh your memory, here's the before before:
After:
And after with drapes:
It's a subtle change but it makes a huge difference in how cool the room stays during the day. All those windows can really make it heat up. We kept the custom fabric blinds that came with the house - it's nice to be able to open the drapes and let some light in and still have privacy. Our table looks smaller in the last picture because it is - that's what it looks like without the leaves in.

I also put up some art and a new entry rug by the back door. That's Penny's bowl on the floor, it's not usually there but I had to move it temporarily because my soapmaking oil buckets are blocking the usual spot in the kitchen.

Our next big project was changing the sewing/craft room upstairs into a bedroom. The previous owners had cabinets and counters installed on two walls. We'd like it to be Sawyer's room (it's the biggest room other than the master) so we can use the two additional rooms as guest rooms and an office.

Before:

And after, but obviously still incomplete:
Eric and I took down the cabinets and managed to keep them in pretty good shape so we can sell them on Craigslist, although so far they're just sitting in the basement. A few days ago I took down the track lighting and filled in the holes in the drywall left by the cabinets (dozens of them on 2 walls and the ceiling.) Today I sanded and discovered 1) I don't look all that bad with gray hair and 2) duct taping a piece of sandpaper to a Swiffer actually works pretty well when sanding the ceiling.

A project I did a while ago but is still incomplete: replacing all the doorknobs in the house. They were all bright brass and we're swapping them out for oil-rubbed bronze.

Before:
After:
All the closet/pass-through doors have levers and the privacy doors have knobs:

The bathrooms have brushed nickel.
I'm now realizing that changing the knobs was the easy part - now I have to change all the hinges, one by one. Ugh. It's taking longer than I expected.

I've halfway through changing hardware in the bathrooms to match the doorknobs - previously all the drawer pulls were the same brass ones as in the kitchen.
Oh, how I hated those! Especially next to the chrome fixtures (which we're also changing, but that's a bit further down the list.) This is in Sawyer's bathroom. Before:
After:
And our most recent change, taking down the brass light fixtures upstairs and putting up oil-rubbed bronze ones. We've had them for months but just got around to installing them.

Before/in progress:
After:
Still to do upstairs: Paint everything, get new carpet in Sawyer's room and the tiled room (photos forthcoming), replace the ceiling fans (they are HIDEOUS), change bathroom mirrors and fixtures, finish replacing all those hinges (ugh), and get new furniture for Sawyer's room, guest rooms and office.

In progress downstairs: Replace carpet in family room with hardwood, paint foyer (we'll have to hire someone for that because it's 2 stories), install new chandelier in foyer (ditto), paint living room and dining room, move piano from my grandfather's house into living room, repurpose chandelier in dining room (I'm going to try painting it), mount TV over fireplace and install in-wall home theater system, install built-in bookshelves in living room/dining room, buy new couches for family room, change fixtures and mirror in powder room.

And that's just off the top of my head.

Long Overdue...Our Trip to Utah

2009-08-15T16:46:00.001-04:00

Back in July (was that really over a month ago??) Sawyer and I traveled to Utah to visit SueSue and Grandad. Here's what we did.

[Edited to remove the embedded slide show, because the automatic music is super annoying. Here's a link instead.]

Slide Show

Tantrum Time

2009-08-14T12:22:00.003-04:00

Sawyer is currently throwing a tantrum because I turned off the TV. When this happens I usually ignore him and he stops pretty quickly. This time though he is persisting, and little does he know that I'm typing everything he says, for posterity, of course. I stopped short of getting out the video camera - this is slightly less cruel, right?

Sawyer, while rolling on the floor and wailing hysterically:

I soooo sad! Look at my face! Look at my eyes! Soooo sad! What happened? Are you OK? [I think that part is what he thinks I'm supposed to be saying to him.] I'm rolling! I'm rolling! Uh-oh! I too sad! [lots of heaving of breath and artificial wailing.] I too tired! I too sad! I need 'yardigans! Ahhhh! Oh no! I hurt myself! [He didn't.] He's crying! Sawyer is crying! Look at meeeee!

Ah, the joyous times.

My Life According to Tori Amos

2009-08-06T09:19:00.007-04:00

This is a fun tag. Thanks for the idea Tiburon!

My Life According to...

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)" There were so many good options for some I couldn't pick just one.

Pick your Artist:
Tori Amos

Describe yourself:
Cornflake Girl
Playboy Mommy (um, no.)

How do you feel:
Strange
Crazy

Describe where you currently live:
Barons of Suburbia
Virginia (too easy!)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Cool On Your Island
Ireland

Your favorite form of transportation:
Cars and Guitars
Take to the Sky

Your best friend:
Hoochie Woman (hee hee!)

You and your best friend are:
Purple People

What's the weather like:
Cloud on My Tongue

Favorite time of day:
Sweet Dreams

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Here, In My Head

What is life to you:
A Sorta Fairytale

Your relationship:
Song for Eric

Your fear:
Professional Widow

What is the best advice you have to give:
The Power of Orange Knickers

Thought for the Day:
Mother Revolution

How I would like to die:
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Happy Phantom

My soul's present condition:
Little Earthquakes

My motto:
Pretty Good Year

You know you're doing a LOST rewatch when...

2009-07-30T14:45:00.003-04:00

We got Sawyer a new toothbrush today. He picked a robot one because, as he said, "it's a Bad Robot!"

For those of you who don't watch the show, this is what he was referring to.

Sawyer's Prayers

2009-07-26T12:53:00.004-04:00

We love hearing what Sawyer comes up with when he says his nightly prayers. At first we gave him lots of prompting ("What did you do today? What are you thankful for?") but now he launches into it all by himself. It's not always easy to understand him but he is often very thoughtful. Some recent examples:

-"Thank you for washing the car and splashing the car." He had helped Eric and me wash the cars that day.
-"Bless Penny in her crate."
-"What's Penny barking at?" Not sure if this is supposed to be rhetorical.
-"Thank you for Backyardigans and Pablo and Wall-E."
-"Thank you for Father's Day." He started this one on Father's Day and then kept mentioning it for weeks afterward.
-"Bless Caroline and Mary Grace and Megan and Ryan and [whoever else we've seen recently.]"
-"Thank you I go to preschool." He's getting very excited to start preschool in the fall!

And the other day he made up a song that went like this: "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, you so so nice," repeated over and over again as he danced (naked) around the house.

2009-07-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

Broken

2009-07-15T11:29:00.002-04:00

Sawyer, after spotting the half-moon during our morning walk yesterday: "Oh no! Who made it broken?"

Rolling in the Dough

2009-06-30T08:44:00.005-04:00

I recently got a notice that my car insurance policy was going to be credited because Geico made a mistake calculating my premium. I waited excitedly for the check to find out how much I would get back - it's not every day that some of that money you pay out in bills comes back! Finally the other day it came.

Yep. They sent me a check for 24 cents. I guess they knew I couldn't get by without that last (less than a) quarter in my budget. Thanks Geico!

I'm taking it to the bank.

Every Parent's Dream

2009-06-26T16:00:00.005-04:00

I related more than usual to today's Engrish Funny:

After months (OK, actually years) of potty training, pleading, begging, scolding and bribing, Sawyer is finally consistently using the toilet. Our developmental pediatrician says that it's pretty common for kids with a language delay to also have issues with potty training, but we finally made it, right around his fourth birthday. Hallelujah!

He still has accidents sometimes when he gets really involved in playing and he doesn't want to stop what he's doing. He'll come up to me and say "Uh-oh! Accident!" Then he'll say "Oh well, that's OK," which is a line from a book he likes about learning to go potty. I want to tell him "NO! It's NOT OK!" but I usually manage to rein it in.

Next step: teaching him that yes, you really do have to wash your hands every single time.

Guilty

2009-06-23T12:51:00.005-04:00

Do you other moms ever have moments of intense mommy guilt? I just had one yesterday. I was doing some weeding in the front yard. Sawyer was with me and disappeared when I had my back turned. I called for him, he didn't answer. I went inside and looked all over the house, he didn't answer. I was starting to freak out when I found him in the backyard using one of my pitchers to dip water out of the pond. My fear combined with the fact that he had (unintentionally) uprooted several newly planted water plants made me furious - oh, and the fact that he knows he's not supposed to play in the pond without an adult watching. I smacked him on the hand as I took the pitcher away and yelled at him, telling him how mad I was. We don't spank, so he's not used to this kind of reaction, but he didn't seem too upset about the whole thing, which actually just made me even madder. I brought him inside, put the pitcher away and tried to calm down. Once I was feeling more level-headed I apologized for getting so mad.

So later in the day I overheard him playing by himself with a couple of matchbox cars and making them "talk" to each other using a high-pitched, sing-songy voice. Here was the conversation:
"I so mad! So so mad! I'm going to HURT you!"
"Ouch! That hurt!"
"Oh, I sorry."
"That's OK."

GUILT.

Looking for LOST?

2009-06-19T11:54:00.004-04:00

I've decided to create a separate blog for my LOST posts. That way those of you who read just for LOST won't have to wade through posts with pictures of my dog, and those of you who read just for pictures of my dog (I know you're out there!) can skip all the LOST musings. The new blog is at http://chelseagetslost.blogspot.com

I'm going to be following the Lostpedia: Rewatch schedule, where the plan is to watch seasons 1 through 5 before the start of the final season in 2010, and I'll continue with the weekly blogging through season 6. By the end, I should have a complete LOST blog. And that's what I'm doing with my summer vacation.

The Massacre Continues

2009-06-18T09:25:00.004-04:00

Because Penny has shown such a love for stuffed animals (or a desire to tear them to bits) I bought her one of her own - a squeaky monkey from the pet store. I thought since it was made specifically for dogs that it would be a bit sturdier than regular stuffed animals. I was wrong.

She immediately ripped off all of the poor monkey's extremities. The tail has not yet been found.

Fortunately Sawyer hasn't been traumatized by all the violence. In fact, he thinks it's hilarious.

Whale Wars

2009-06-17T21:42:00.003-04:00

In the absence of LOST, 24, Fringe, The Office, and so many others, Eric and I have found a new favorite show, Whale Wars on Animal Planet. It started in November, but they have been replaying episodes. We're hooked.

It's a documentary series about members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society . The Sea Shepherds were founded by Paul Watson, an activist who was kicked out of Greenpeace for being too hardcore. Yep. Too hardcore for Greenpeace. The series follows the group as they sail around the Antarctic trying to intercept Japanese whaling ships - according to the Sea Shepherds, the whaling ships claim to be conducting research, but they are actually hunting for whales in order to sell the meat, which is extremely valuable in the Japanese market. So they use nonviolent but confrontational tactics to stop them - they throw butyric acid stink bombs (which taint the whale meat and make the deck of the ship slippery and just generally stinky), interfere with nets, and on one occasion, they even ram the ship.

All of these people are quite possibly clinically insane. They're sailing through a minefield of icebergs on a ship that's not designed to handle ice, they head into open waters in tiny little zodiacs in the middle of storms, they stand in plain sight when the whalers ships threaten to retaliate with gunfire...all in the name of saving whales. Whether or not you agree with their mission, their bravery and determination are astonishing. That's great TV.

The Lion King Lear

2009-06-13T13:34:00.001-04:00

The other day a tragedy occurred in our home.

It was Penny's doing. Despite the mountains of dog appropriate toys we've bought for her, she only wants to play with (and subsequently destroy) Sawyer's stuffed animals, in particular this lion. No matter how many times I put him away, she always manages to get him out again. I suspect Sawyer is helping her. At least now the poor lion won't have to see his stuffing ripped out in front of his own eyes.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's....Healthy Body Image Man!

2009-06-12T12:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I was cleaning the kitchen when I suddenly noticed the house was too quiet. I figured Sawyer was out back so I went to go check on him and this is what I found.

Apparently superheroes don't need clothes (just a cape), and it doesn't matter if their Crocs are on the wrong feet.

Enjoying the Fruits of Someone Else's Labors

2009-06-11T15:41:00.012-04:00

The previous owners of our home were obviously gardeners. Since we bought the house in February we didn't have any idea of what was planted in the backyard but since spring began all sorts of gorgeous things keep surprising us. A huge peony bush, which unfortunately I didn't photograph before all the flowers fell off (huge bummer how short the blooms last on those!) Enormous azaleas, which have also lost their blooms already. A few recent discoveries:

Raspberries.

I can't wait until these ripen. They've spread over a large part of the landscaped area, but I don't care, that just means more berries!

Daisies. There are little clumps of these all over the yard.

And my most favorite thing ever: lavender.

I have a two year old lavender plant in a planter on our deck that I've been waiting to transplant, and then I find this! Very mature plants that are flourishing.

Weeping willows are my favorite trees, and when we were touring the house and realized there were four of them on the property that sealed the deal for me.

Our pond needs some work (I've been trying to schedule a drain and clean for weeks but it keeps getting pushed back because of the rain) but something survived the year of neglect - these plants suddenly popped up a few weeks ago and now they're getting huge. Doing a web search, I think these are taro - does anyone recognize them?

Sickness Part Deux

2009-06-08T17:03:00.004-04:00

Just when we were all feeling healthy again, last Wednesday I got a stomach bug that kept me up all night. The next day Sawyer got a fever and what turned out to also be a stomach bug (probably the same one I had.) Just in time for my dear friend Sara's wedding. So Eric stepped up as the good dad that he is and stayed home with him so I could go to the sealing and dinner. This captures pretty well how Sawyer was feeling.

Luckily it was a quick illness and we are all feeling fine now. Here's to a healthy, sickness-free summer!

Sickness

2009-06-03T10:57:00.005-04:00

I fell off the radar screen for a while there because I was sick. We were all sick - Eric, Sawyer and I got the Worst Cold Ever. Eric missed several days of work. Eric NEVER misses work. After almost a week with no improvement we all went to the doctor. In the waiting room they had a big sign that listed the symptoms of Swine Flu and instructed us to put on a mask and use a squirt of Purell if we had any symptoms. I was pretty sure that's not what we had so we declined the masks. At least they're taking the outbreak seriously. When we saw the doctor she agreed with us that it wasn't Swine Flu (pshew!) but just a bad cold. She told us to wait it out for a few more days, and if we still weren't better to take antibiotics. A couple of days later (the day before Mother's Day, and the day of Sawyer's birthday party, which I have yet to blog about) Sawyer and Eric were feeling a lot better, but I developed an earache. So I filled my prescription and took a Z-Pak. 6 days later, my ear was still killing me. I went back to the doctor and she was surprised it was me and not Sawyer that was back with an earache. She took one look in my ear and said "Oh, that ear is not happy." No, it wasn't. I have newfound empathy for kids that get chronic ear infections, because it hurts like crazy. All I wanted to do was lie down and whine. She gave me a stronger course of antibiotics, and about 5 days later the pain was finally gone. I still can't hear well though - apparently it can take up to a couple months for the fluid to drain completely. Eric is calling me "old lady" because he is so tired of repeating himself to me whenever he's on my right side.

Maybe My Favorite Thing Ever

2009-05-20T13:53:00.003-04:00

Listing on Amazon.com

Read the reviews, and enjoy!

Back from the Dead

2009-05-11T10:42:00.006-04:00

I feel like I'm back from the dead. The past week has gone by in a blur. We all got sick with a horrible cold - congestion, headaches, bronchitis, body aches, and fever. No, it wasn't swine flu. (Although when we went to the doctor last Thursday there was a big sign in the waiting room stating that if you had any flu-like symptoms and had traveled to infected regions to please put on a face mask and use the provided hand sanitizer before signing in.) Even though it wasn't swine flu, we were pretty darn sick and miserable for several days. Eric even took a few days off work, which he NEVER does. 10 days later, I'm still sick - I now have a sinus and ear infection. Antibiotics, here I come! All this is to explain why I've missed blogging about getting a new dog, celebrating Sawyer's birthday, and two great episodes of Lost. Time to play catch up.

Welcome Home Penny!

2009-05-06T11:09:00.002-04:00

The long-awaited day is finally here! Last Saturday we brought home our first family dog, Penny (full name Penelope Widmore Hume. :D )

She's a 2 or 3 year old Redtick Coonhound (not sure if she's purebred or a mix) and we are adopting her through the wonderful folks at PAWS Rescue of Northern Virginia. She was rescued from a high kill shelter, where she was on death row after being picked up as a stray. The lady who rescued her has a real job but spends virtually all of her personal time rescuing dogs and finding homes for them at what I can only imagine is great financial cost in addition to a huge time commitment. It's amazing what she does and we are so grateful to her!

Unfortunately, on her first trip to the vet Penny tested positive for heartworms. She received the treatment for it a few days before we picked her up, so she is still recovering from that illness. As the heartworms die off they have nowhere to go since they're in the circulatory system, so the only option is to wait for the body to break them down (gross, huh?) and there is a high risk of embolism so we have to keep her quiet and calm as much as possible. After a month of rest she'll go back to the vet to be spayed and the adoption will be finalized.

She's still adjusting to living in a house - we're fairly certain she's never lived inside before because she's very afraid of normal indoor things like ceiling fans, flushing toilets, and stairs (we have yet to be able to coax her upstairs or down into the basement.) She's not housebroken but is crate trained and so she's only had one accident in the week we've had her - and that one was totally my fault because I forgot to put her back in her crate when I went upstairs to give Sawyer his bath. When she's in her crate she is very good about holding it until we take her out. She is a different dog outside, she instantly becomes playful, happy and relaxed. I'm hoping in time she'll adjust to being an inside dog and learn that the ceiling fan/toilet/stairs are not out to get her.

She is such a sweet dog. Sawyer can't get enough of her and she is incredibly tolerant of his hugs and kisses.

The other day she was looking longingly out the window by the front door (we had just come back inside and it wasn't time to go out again yet) and Sawyer kept bringing her his toys to make her feel better. After a few minutes there was a big stack of books, stuffed animals, and Lincoln Logs next to her. I think she appreciated his concern.

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T21:09:00.005-04:00

Sawyer and I weren't feeling well today, so we stayed home and celebrated Earth Day by watching part of the Blue Planet series from the Discovery Channel. It's fabulous and kept Sawyer enthralled for much longer than I expected it to. He especially got into the parts about penguins - he's been on a penguin kick lately. According to Sawyer a penguin says "Eek!" in a very high pitched voice. I have no idea if he's right or not. Anyone know what a penguin really says?

I'm not the best at making environmentally friendly choices (I drive a Dodge Durango for heaven's sake!) but I have tried to change a few things in the past couple of years. Learning to make soap and other bath products was a big eye opener for me because I now know what's in most commercially produced products and it's mostly not good. I'm much more stingy in my use of heating/air conditioning than I used to be. And when we had to buy a new washer/dryer we opted for an energy friendly choice even though it was more expensive.
Probably my favorite change I have made is a really simple one - using reusable grocery bags. I bought a bunch of the Wegmans bags (99 cents each) and I love them. I'd use them even if they weren't "green" because they're so sturdy; the groceries stack up perfectly inside, they don't spill all over the back of my car, and since they're so much larger than the plastic bags, I can get a whole week's worth of groceries into 3 or 4 bags rather than 8 to 10 plastic ones.

So that's my attempt to save the Earth. Kind of lame, I know, but big changes start with small ones, right?

Before and After

2009-04-17T17:48:00.027-04:00

After a lot of work and some camera drama (USB cables got lost in the move) I finally have some before and after pictures of the decorating we've done to the house.

First here's the kitchen before.
All the cabinet knobs were shiny gold, which really didn't go with the gray/white/silver quartz counters. And the wall color was much too warm and light.

This is after changing the cabinet hardware and before painting:

And the finished product. Well, almost finished. I still want to replace the sink and the appliances.

The walls are Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage. I got the cabinet pulls very inexpensively on eBay (less than $60 for all of them.)

Next, the breakfast room, which is next to the kitchen. Before:
Notice the lovely circa 1980s brass chandelier. Not my fave. In this room I painted, replaced the chandelier and got a new table and chairs. After:

I got the chandelier online, the table from Ethan Allen, and the chairs, believe it or not, from Walmart. They are surprisingly well built and sturdy, and they were much cheaper than buying them from a furniture store (or even used chairs on Craigslist). The walls are Silver Sage just like the kitchen - the color in these is much more accurate since they're daytime shots.

And finally, the family room. This one took the longest because we had to cover up the cranberry red on the walls.

Here's the room after three - that's right, THREE - coats of Kilz primer:

The color we chose was Restoration Hardware's Flax. I painted the mantel white to make it look more continuous with the trim and to "pop" more against the darker walls (incidentally, I don't think it's possible to talk about decorating without using the word "pop." Just watch HGTV for 5 minutes.) I got the drapes from JC Penney and curtain rods from Target - since this is our TV room we needed a way to block out sunlight from the wall of windows

We still have a lot to do in here - we're going to mount the TV above the fireplace on a tilt mount and install surround speakers. We also want a couple of new couches to make a U-formation around the TV/fireplace. And I can't wait to get rid of the huge white and gold ceiling fan, as well as move Eric's hideous (but extremely comfy) recliner into another room. It's really nice to have the red walls gone. I like red, but it was just too much since it's such a large room. At night time it felt like we were sitting in hell.

So that's phase 1 of my decorating plans. Next on the list is the 2 weird bedrooms (the tiled one and the sewing/craft room), my soaping space in the basement, and the bathrooms. I'm going to take a break first though.

Flight of the Conchords Live

2009-04-14T13:20:00.008-04:00

Last night Eric and I went to see Flight of the Conchords perform at Constitution Hall. It was so much fun. Eric's not as big a fan as I am, but he loved the show, and we were both laughing from start to finish.

Kristen Schaal (Mel from the show) was the opening act and she was hilarious. This is her tribute to Law and Order SVU.

Bret and Jemaine came out (inexplicably dressed as robots) and gave a rousing rendition of "Too Many D*#$s on the Dance Floor" - adult language notwithstanding it was hilarious. Then they removed the robot costumes and settled down into acoustic mode for a long setlist, not in this exact order but including:
"The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)"
"Stana" this one was new to me - it's a Johnny Cash-style story about a man whose name is an anagram of "Satan." Really funny.
"Hurt Feelings (Tears of a Rapper)" - the clip is from last night's show and opens with dialogue about how they've been wondering how DC is doing since they were here last year, but they've been unable to find out since we're never all in the same place at the same time. Best line: "The day after my birthday is not my birthday, Mum!"

"Bowie"
"If You're Into It"
"Carol Brown" - girls in the audience got to sing along with the chorus
"Motha'uckas" (with Bret on drums)
"Not Crying"
"Robots"
"Jenny" - one of my all-time Conchord faves

"Hip-Hopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros"
"You Don't Have to be a Prostitute"
"Bus Driver's Song" (this was new to me too)
"Business Time"

On a lot of the songs they were joined by what they referred to as the New Zealand National Symphony Orchestra - otherwise known as a guy named Nigel who plays the cello. The cello added a lot to the arrangements of the songs and sometimes doubled as a bass. Well done, Nigel!

Some of the funniest parts were the banter between songs. At one point lots of people were yelling out requests and Jemaine went into baby-talk mode to tell everyone to shush. (I took this video on my iPhone, which is why the quality is so bad.) He went on like this for a while, and Bret finally said "Seriously, if you don't listen to him he'll carry on. He did this for 45 minutes in Orlando."

Later in the show Jemaine said "Hmm, this isn't going very well. We shouldn't listen to you when you tell us what to play. Sometimes democracy doesn't work, DC." Several people cheered and he continued, "Ah, I see we have quite a few fans of dictatorships here tonight!" Another time when people were yelling out requests someone yelled "Free Bird!" Jemaine said "I've always wondered - is there one person in every town whose job it is to yell 'Free Bird'?" Bret: "Or is it the same guy, following us around?" Jemaine: "Do you even know 'Free Bird'?" Bret: "Never heard it."

And my favorite of the night - a medley of "We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady" and "Sugalumps." It was not only hilarious but also really cool musically. Near the end Bret reached out into the audience to touch the hand of a girl near the stage - but right before she got close enough he jumped back and called the bouncer over to get her. So funny!

The Scoop

2009-03-11T10:40:00.004-04:00

Thanks to some friendly/gossipy new neighbors (my favorite kind, as long as they're not talking about me), we've learned the history of how our house became a foreclosure. The couple who lived here were in their 60s. He was a retired naval officer and very handy - he had a wood shop in the basement and he built the deck and fenced in the backyard himself. She was a seamstress (one of the bedrooms is a sewing room) and showed dogs (poodles I think) and she had about 10 of them. That explains what the tiled bedroom was all about - it was the doggies' room. And that's why all the carpet in the house is new; I guess the dogs weren't house trained very well. Apparently the hubby told her "it's me or the dogs"...and she picked the dogs. So when they went to try to sell the house, hubby discovered that it was only in wifey's name and that made him so mad that he decided to walk away. She was unable to keep up with the payments, hence the foreclosure. So our house is the product of a bitter divorce. It sounds like the owners were interesting and fun people (bitter divorce notwithstanding) and they definitely took good care of the house - they even left us a note to let us know the code to the garage door opener. I'm just glad no one died here.

Updates

2009-03-08T12:16:00.003-04:00

So, some stuff has happened in the past couple of weeks. 1) We bought a house. 2) We moved into it. 3) We made our first ever trip to the ER with Sawyer, who had croup. 4) We've tackled several home improvement projects with mixed success. 5) And last but certainly not least, we have watched two episodes of Lost on our new TV. Yep, Eric talked me into it. We got it at Circuit City's going out of business sale so it was a good deal, 60% off the retail price. Not as good a deal as just keeping our current more moderately sized TV, but whatever.

1) The closing process went more smoothly that we ever could have hoped. The inspection went great (very few problems, especially considering that it was a foreclosure), the appraisal came in high above our price (that was a relief!), and we ended up needing less cash at closing than we had expected (more money for furniture! Woohoo!)

2) Moving went well, although it was a stressful 3 days. Eric took boxes over in five trips on Thursday and Friday, and Saturday our wonderful Elder's Quorum came to help with the heavy stuff along with Eric's dad and brother. Thanks to them it took less than an hour! We spent the rest of Saturday cleaning the empty townhouse and filling in nail holes (ugh).

3) On Monday night Sawyer suddenly started wheezing during his bath. He kept saying "It's scary!" I wasn't sure what he was talking about - he has had a lot of new fears come up during the process of moving and he's been saying a lot of things are scary. A couple of minutes later he was breathing normally and seemed fine so I put him to bed and left his door open so I could hear him if he needed us. A couple of hours later I could hear him coughing and crying and he seemed to be gasping for breath. We called the nurse's hotline at the hospital and they said to bring him in to the ER. The triage nurse could tell right away that it was croup. We felt a little bit sheepish for rushing him to the hospital late at night, but they said it was a good thing we brought him in because his oxygen levels were low. He got an epinephrine nebulizer treatment (and hated every second of it) and felt much better. We got home a little after 2 a.m. I guess I'm being paid back for making my parents take me to the ER countless times for my childhood asthma attacks. It was always in the middle of the night.

4) I've replaced half of the kitchen hardware (the other half requires drilling new holes in the cabinetry and I'm scared to do it without Eric's help), painted big squares of sample paint on the walls, and installed a new chandelier in the breakfast room (with Eric's help - that was definitely a two person job!) I have new door knobs coming this week. Little by little we're getting rid of all the shiny bright gold fixtures. Before and after pictures to come!

5) LOST! I loved the past two episodes. Reactions/recaps are also forthcoming. Since there is no new episode next week (why?! WHY?!?!) I'll have time to play catchup.

Not Always Right

2009-02-23T10:17:00.004-05:00

Someone on the soap forum I frequent posted a link to this hilarious blog: (The Customer Is) Not Always Right It's a collection of exchanges between customer service employees and crazy customers. I laughed so hard reading some of them. If you've ever worked in customer service you'll relate!

Lazy

2009-02-17T20:30:00.005-05:00

I should have done several posts over the past few days, but since I'm feeling lazy, here's a summary.

-I chopped off the tip of my thumb making Valentine's Day dinner for Eric. I was chopping on an angle so it cut off a lot of nail and just a tiny sliver of thumb, but it bled forever and hurt like crazy. I completed the meal using only one hand with my thumb wrapped up in layers of sterile gauze.

-After we had decided not to get each other gifts (since we're buying A HOUSE in less than two weeks) Eric surprised me with an iPhone. I thought "no gifts" actually meant no gifts. Hence the pressure I felt to finish cooking dinner, since that was my only present for him.

-The dinner turned out great despite the inadvertent amputation. Roasted racks of lamb marinated in Herbes de Provence and garlic. (When I asked the girl at the Wegmans butcher counter for marinade ideas she suggested "Herbs de Providence." I thought that might work better for Easter.) Roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans on the side, and Symphony brownies for dessert.

-I really, really, really love my iPhone. Beyond all reason.

-Eric claims to be happy that I didn't buy him a present, because now he can use my guilt as leverage to get a new plasma TV. Apparently our 42" LCD that we bought 2 years ago is now a useless relic and would be an embarrassment in the new family room.

-I chose a paint color for the new kitchen, only to discover that it's currently the most trendy/popular color in North America. Trying to decide if that means I should pick something else, or if I should just give in and admit that I'm becoming a yuppie.

-We started packing. My soaping equipment, all our books and movies, and most of Sawyer's toys are done. I hate (HATE) moving. The whole process overwhelms me and stresses me out. I have never coped well with change, even when the change is something really exciting and good. So maybe spacing things out over a couple of weeks is the way to go. Or maybe we're just prolonging the agony.

My Religious Blog

2009-02-09T09:39:00.003-05:00

This is my new favorite blog: My Religious Blog It reads a lot like an LDS version of Jack Handey's "Deep Thoughts." Here are a couple of my favorites.

Misunderstanding
I thought I overheard a couple of guys badmouthing the Church this morning and I got really mad.

But then it turned out they were actually just badmouthing the Lurch (that guy from the Adam’s Family), so I wasn’t really mad anymore.

Because man, I hate the Lurch!

Ideal Meeting Time
Some people think the best meeting block is from 9:00 – 12:00 because they like to take a nap after church.

Other people think the best meeting block is from 11:00 – 2:00 because they like to sleep in on Sunday morning.

But I think the ideal meeting time would be 11:30 – 12:00 because seriously…

King of Spain

2009-02-04T21:02:00.003-05:00

You know how when you run into an ex you always self-centeredly hope your life is going better than theirs? No such luck for this girl. (There's a bit of adult language right at the beginning.)

Good News

2009-01-27T14:31:00.016-05:00

We bought a house! We've been looking since late 2008 without much success - with three separate houses they sold or were pulled from the market right before we could make an offer. We thought it was a buyer's market, but apparently that doesn't apply to foreclosures in our area - they are selling like wildfire when they're at the right price. My sister Megan is our fabulous realtor and she took us to see a listing, a foreclosure that had just come on the market on Saturday. We fell in love with it as soon as we walked in the front door. There's almost nothing we need to change, and it's big enough that we can potentially stay there forever (assuming I don't have sextuplets next time we do IVF.) The yard is large for the neighborhood and already landscaped. We were anxious when we heard that there were other offers but figured if it was meant to be it would work out. We heard from the listing agent this morning that we were tied with someone else for the highest offer, so we increased our offer by just a little bit hoping it would be enough. Apparently it was, because we got it! We're closing in February.

And now you know why I didn't blog about it before, because the details of real estate transactions are only interesting to those directly involved with them.

Here are some pictures - that's less boring, right? I'm already thinking about how I'm going to decorate. Once we save up some money after blowing our life savings on the house itself.

Exterior

Front hall staircase

Living/Dining Rooms

Kitchen/Family Room

Kitchen

Breakfast Room/Solarium

Deck/Backyard

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Learn Your Rules

2009-01-20T09:14:00.002-05:00

My favorite bit from last week's Office. Instant classic!

And a great rendition from some cute kids (not mine).

Like sand through the hourglass...

2009-01-16T20:50:00.001-05:00

I was talking to my mom the other day about how crazy the past year has been for our family. To protect the innocent I won't go into (too much) detail, but let's just say there have been lots of surprises and enough drama that any soap opera writer would be inspired.

One of the recent developments happened after my brother participated in a deep roots ancestry DNA study. The results of the test tell you where your distant ancestors came from. Since my mom is an amazing genealogist, we have our family history going back for years, and as far as we knew all our predecessors were straight up European. So it was a little surprising when my brother's results came in and revealed that he was one eighth Native American. That means one great-grandparent was full Native (or multiple great-greats, or even more great-great-greats, and so on.) Despite her thorough research, my mom had no idea we had any Native American ancestors, so naturally she was curious about where that lineage could have come from. She remembered that my great-grandfather (her grandfather) Fred used to talk about his father working with the Indians in Colorado. And thus her theory was born. She thinks Fred was actually Native American and adopted. There's no proof of this yet, but the pieces seem to fit; he was dark complected and in pictures he looks nothing like his siblings who were all fair. At the time it was normal not to talk about a child having been adopted, especially a child of another race. Fred ran away from home at the age of 15 and had no contact with the rest of the family after that – my grandfather never even met his aunts and uncles even though they lived fairly close to them.

Here's where it gets juicier (and, coincidentally, ties into a recent post.) My grandfather's brother married a girl who happened to be their first cousin. They were shunned by the family and pretty much cut off all contact, especially after they had a child who was born with Down Syndrome. If my mom's theory about great-grandpa Fred being adopted turns out to be correct, they aren't really first cousins at all – in fact, they would have no blood relationship whatsoever. So the whole family drama would have happened for no reason. Does that sound like the plot of a depressing turn-of-the-century novel or what?

We may never know the truth, but my grandfather is waiting for the results of his own DNA ancestry test to determine if the Native American line goes through him. If not it may come from my dad's side. Either way, if the test is accurate I may have a whole line of family history I never knew about. Which is really cool. As long as I don't find out later in life that I also have an evil twin in a coma.

How to tell good from evil.

2009-01-12T10:50:00.003-05:00

Last night's episode of "24" confirmed something I've always suspected:

Clean shaven = good.

Scruffy half beard = evil.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-12T08:45:00.004-05:00

Eric and I don't go to nearly as many movies as we used to since finding a babysitter is always a challenge, so when we get a chance to see one we feel pressure to make it a good one. On Saturday my dad offered to babysit and we went to see "Slumdog Millionaire." We weren't disappointed. It's hands down the best film I've seen this year. And since it won a bunch of Golden Globes last night (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score - it won every category it was nominated for) it should be around in theaters for quite a while.

The story is about a young man named Jamal who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, India. Now working as a chai wallah at a cell phone call center, he gets the chance to be on India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." He surprises everyone by answering every question correctly, right up to the final question. Convinced that he must be cheating (he's completely uneducated and even doctors and lawyers haven't made it that far in the game) they arrest him and question him. During the questioning we see flashbacks of his life, and the things that happened to him that allowed him to know the answers to the questions. It's a love story, a coming of age story, and it transports you straight into another world. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Something New Every Day

2009-01-05T07:13:00.000-05:00

I learn some pretty wild things at ChaCha, in between questions about penis length and Twilight movie trivia. The other day someone asked me where it's legal to marry your first cousin. I was surprised by the answer. I grew up hearing jokes about West Virginians marrying their cousins, but as it turns out, it's illegal there...and legal in Virginia! First cousin marriage is legal in 21 states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. (http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cousins.htm)

I also learned that the US is virtually the only country in the western world to prohibit cousins from marrying - it's legal in all of Europe, Mexico and Canada. Apparently the chances of birth defects in the children of cousins have been grossly exaggerated in the past due to some spurious studies in the 1800s - the chances are almost as high when you marry someone of your own race. One source says that 20% of the world's current marriages are between first or second cousins, and nearly 80% of marriages in human history have been cousin marriages.

I also learned that Eric doesn't like to hear about cousins marrying each other. I started telling him about it and he told me to stop IMMEDIATELY. Like with so many other things, no matter how good the science is, it's hard to get past the "ick" factor.

Readers

2009-01-04T18:33:00.003-05:00

Someone posted this on my soap forum and I thought it was really funny. (Warning: he drops a couple of F bombs right at the end, so it's not kid friendly!)

It's nice to know there are men other than my husband that appreciate women who read. Although, for the record, I do like Harry Potter.

Back to my roots

2009-01-02T11:03:00.008-05:00

For some reason I've been thinking a lot about the origin of my blogging career (using the term "career" very loosely, since my posting is sporadic at best, and no one is paying me. I have to pay people to read it. Usually with favors.) When I first started blogging, it was about our adventures with infertility and IVF. Since Sawyer is now 3 1/2 we've had a lot of people asking us when we're going to do IVF again. I've brought the questioning on myself by being way out of the IVF closet, and by announcing openly that we were going to transfer our embryos last year - before we found out our insurance was cheaping out on us. Anyway. It's really hard to explain to people that I'm just not ready to go through the whole process again. I know my kids (if we're successful) are going to be several years apart, which is probably not optimal, etc, but...I just can't bring myself to make that phone call to Dr. A right now.

Part of the problem is that people don't realize what the IVF process entails. They think of it as a one-time visit to the doctor, one procedure, and then you find out if you're pregnant or not. In reality, it's a multi-step, months long process of painful testing, invasive procedures, lots of money spent, more needles than I ever thought I'd see in a lifetime...and the whole time no one knows whether or not it will even work.

And I haven't even experienced what a lot of IVFers do. We have an official diagnosis - at least 10% of IVF patients have "unexplained" infertility. Knowing what our problem is (bad sperm) actually makes us feel better about going through the treatments. Our first IVF cycle worked, which makes us extremely lucky and probably means I shouldn't complain about the process at all, given that a lot of couples I know have undergone multiple cycles with no success. I must be a wimp, because just that one cycle (and the testing/surgery) that preceded it makes me terrified of doing it again. Maybe terrified is too strong a word. It's more of a big, fat, "I don't want to."

Of course the end result is worth it. Of course. I would go through 100 IVFs to have Sawyer again. But when the best chance anyone has of success is 30% (much less for a frozen cycle, and less now that I'm over 30) it's difficult to be excited about going through it all again. I definitely want to give our frozen triplet embryos a chance. And doing a transfer only cycle will be a lot less stressful than a full IVF cycle, in theory anyway. It's just going to take me a little while to work up the courage again.

What have you done?

2009-01-01T20:00:00.004-05:00

I saw this on my friend Suzie's blog. If you want to play, just copy/paste to your blog and bold the items you've done. Here's mine:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I sang)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden a gondola in Italy
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen Amish country
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (just on an indoor wall though)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (if crabs and fish count)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (1/2 credit - I stuck my toes in)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less

Maybe I'll accomplish some of these in 2009. Probably not the bungee jumping though.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:45:00.006-05:00

Doesn't the house look great this year?

OK, I should probably mention that this isn't my house. It's my parents' house. But I can always pretend it's mine. (The snow kind of gives it away - they've had over two feet in the past few days, while it's 50˚ here.)

We've had a wonderfully peaceful Christmas. We went to a lovely church service with my sister and her family yesterday and then rushed home so I could make our big Christmas Eve dinner: standing rib roast with a horseradish/crème fraîche sauce, smashed potatoes, steamed French green beans, and my mom's famous rolls. For dessert I made my dad's ice cream pie (Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk in a chocolate cookie crust) and a gingerbread cake with spiced crème anglaise - but after dinner we were so tired and full that we never got around to eating either one. This morning we all slept in until 8:00 then went downstairs to open gifts. Sawyer got way too many presents from his grandparents and aunts and uncles (and some from us too) including a tricycle, Backyardigans dolls, an authentic looking pirate chest, the Fisher Price Little People airport, a Leapster 2 with games, Backyardigans DVDs, a Hot Wheels racetrack, and LOTS of books. Eric gave me a KitchenAid Professional 600 mixer, which I have been coveting for a long time, so no dog house for him this year! I gave him the Matrix trilogy on Blu-ray and a new Playstation game he asked for. We had a big breakfast of my mom's Christmas Morning Casserole (too much food!!) and spent the rest of the day playing with toys. It's been really nice to be home with just our little family - no stressful travel or family drama. We love being with our extended families, but it's also nice to experience the holidays in our own home together. We've had a lot of opportunities to contemplate our blessings and the foundation of our spiritual lives.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Dog House

2008-12-23T10:40:00.005-05:00

This video has been making the e-mail rounds. Just in case you haven't seen it:

I sent it to Eric a few days ago, and he reported back that after showing it to one of his friends at work, the friend was reconsidering his plan to give his wife a body fat monitor for Christmas. My work is done!

It reminds me of when my father-in-law gave my mother-in-law a Red Hat Society sweater for her birthday. She's in her 40s. And then when she went to return it, she found out he had bought it at Cracker Barrel. Classy!

Oasis and (not) Ryan Adams

2008-12-21T18:36:00.007-05:00

Going to concerts is one of my favorite things to do, so I often ask for tickets for my birthday or Christmas. For my last birthday we went to see Matchbox 20. The first Christmas after we got married Eric took me to see Tori Amos. I love getting an experience as a gift, rather than more things. I have too many things. For my big Christmas present this year, I got to see these guys.

But sadly, not this one.

When I saw that Ryan Adams and the Cardinals were opening for Oasis at a venue near us, I couldn't pass it up. Oasis was my favorite band all through high school and college, and Ryan Adams has been my favorite for the past several years. But due to a series of unfortunate events, we were late to the show and walked in right after Ryan and the Cardinals had finished. It wasn't meant to be. Here's what I imagine it would have been like if I had seen them play one of my favorite songs, "Let It Ride." (This was during his scruffy stage, he looks better now. Not that it's about the looks. It's all about the music. Just the music. Ahem.)

Luckily though I'm told he comes to our area a lot so I should get another chance to see him live. And my awesome sister-in-law loves him too so we can go together and spare Eric all my screaming. He lucked out during Oasis since I'm sick and didn't have the energy to get *too* wild. The show was great, although I will say that I would have enjoyed it a lot more had they left out all their new songs and played only songs from "Definitely Maybe" and "Morning Glory." The highlight for me was "Masterplan." Their new stuff just doesn't do it for me. I must be getting old.

Bret and Jemaine are back!

2008-12-18T10:22:00.002-05:00

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

Words cannot describe how much I love this show.

Best lines:

(At 10:03, Answering the question: what do women like?)
Jemaine: Women love weaving. They love to weave.
Bret: Nah. Weaving is a man's game.
Jemaine: Bret. You put a woman in front of a weaving machine, and just watch her go.
Bret: No, honestly. My dad weaves, my grandfather was a weaver.
Jemaine: I thought your dad was a sheep lawyer.
Bret: Yeah, during the day, but at night he weaves a lot. I come from a family of weavers.
Jemaine: I've never seen a man weave.
Bret: I love weaving. I'm weaving at the moment. Making a pair of trousers.

(Later)
Bret: Women's rights.
Jemaine: No, that's more a man's thing, isn't it?
Bret: No, definitely a woman's thing.
Jemaine: Nah, my father's a women's rights activist.
Bret: Your dad?
Jemaine: Yeah.
Bret: What about your mum?
Jemaine: No, my mum? No. Dad wouldn't allow that. No way.

Holiday Deliciousness

2008-12-04T01:27:00.000-05:00

I've found a new favorite holiday treat: Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares. I think they've actually replaced Cadbury's Chocolate Balls on my list - that's how good they are. The chocolate is so smooth it rivals any European chocolate I've had. The best part is that Eric doesn't like the mint/chocolate combo, so he never steals them. They're all for me!

Watch Football!

2008-12-03T13:20:00.002-05:00

Last night when Eric turned on the TV to sports highlights, Sawyer threw up his arms and yelled "Yay! Watch FOOTBALL!" Like father, like son. (I guarantee he didn't learn that from me!)

We had a nice Thanksgiving at the beach with the Watts/Buchanan clan. We went for walks and bike rides, ate too much, caught up with family, and yes, watched football. We came home on Saturday morning rather than Sunday to beat the traffic and it was nice to be home together for a bit before going back to life as usual again on Monday.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Did I really just say that?

2008-11-20T16:02:00.003-05:00

To Sawyer, currently sitting in the Naughty Chair: "No, you were naughty so you may not help Mommy clean up."

Oh, the "punishments" that work on a 3-year-old...