Sawyerisms II

At two and a half, Sawyer is learning new words every day, and like most toddlers he has his own version of a lot of them. Here are some of my favorites.

Ug-a-boo (Peek-a-boo)
Teek oo (Thank you)
Peace (Please, usually along with the sign. Today he came up to me and said "Mama, I nice. Snacks peace?" Usually I have to prompt him with "How do you ask nicely?" but this time he decided to be nice on his own!)
Jawwas (Cheerios. It took me two very puzzling days to figure this one out.)
Kee you? (Carry you. He actually means "Carry me")
Fuddants (Elephants)
Doh-a (Dora the Explorer)
Gweek (Drink)
Chunkle Chunkle (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, his current favorite song.)
Gott (I am a Child of God, his second favorite.)
TRRRRUCK! (Truck; always with the same tone and bursting with enthusiasm. He is his father's son.)

This is how he counts to ten:
One, two, wee, four, sick, semmen, eight, nine, ten! He almost always skips five, and sometimes decides to end with a jubilant nine instead of ten.

Trip to the Garden State

This past weekend I took a trip to visit Andrea! It was my first time seeing their place in New Jersey. I had a great time letting her show me around - she gave quite the sales pitch. We now have to add LaFayette, New Jersey to our list of places we could move.

Buttermilk Falls. We hiked up to the top and I had a minor panic attack on the way down. It's difficult to tell the scale from this picture, but it's really tall.


Fall hasn't come to Virginia yet the way it has there. The leaves were gorgeous.


New Jersey is replete with rocks and streams.


Can you see the bear? It ran across the road right in front of us and by the time I got my camera ready it was pretty far away. I am ready to buy a telephoto lens - this one would have been so cool.


Andrea likes moss.


A cool tree growing on the side of a hill.

This Sucks

I got a call from the insurance secretary in our RE's office yesterday. Apparently our insurance company is saying we have no infertility coverage. Which is very strange, because the policy booklet that I'm looking at right now says we're covered at 50% for all infertility diagnostics and procedures (including IVF related ones). Eric's going to talk to his office's HR guy today and see what the issue is. If we find out that the company opted us out of the coverage I will be all kinds of pissed. We chose this company based (among other things) on their insurance coverage for infertility!

We're really back in the game now, it's just one thing after another. If we have to self pay, we can (although not right away, we don't have enough saved up). It just makes me mad that something this basic and common wouldn't be covered. I mean for heaven's sake, getting pregnant is supposed to be free - and for some people, it's even fun!

Happy Halloween

Sawyer was an elephant for Halloween this year. Elephants ("fuddants") are his favorite animal right now. He loves to pretend his arm is a trunk and raise it in the air and make a trumpeting noise.




At first he didn't want to put the costume on, but when I showed him how he looked in the mirror he didn't want to take it off. He had a great time wearing it at our ward's Trunk or Treat activity; so much so that I had a hard time getting a picture that wasn't blurry because he wouldn't sit still for a second.




I think next year he might be old enough to pick out his own costume. If he'd been able to choose one this year, I'm fairly certain he would have picked Dora the Explorer, who is his favorite person in the entire world - he loves her only slightly less than mom and dad. Too bad the church frowns on cross dressing.



Happy Halloween!

Back in the Stirrups

Well, it's official - after three years of frolicking around happily in the land of the Fertile, we are patients of a reproductive endocrinologist once more. We had an appointment with our RE yesterday to discuss our options for Baby #2 (as he or she will known on the records of the Church - just kidding.) We are very (VERY) lucky to have three embryos which were frozen after the IVF that got us Sawyer. That means we don't have to go through the whole (horrible, expensive, painful, and did I mention horrible?) process of a full IVF again, we just have to transfer the embryos into me and hope they take. Our RE gives us about a 30% chance that it will work. With a fresh cycle it's about 40-50% - the thawing process can damage the embryos, so a frozen cycle is always riskier than fresh. As with last time, our chances are better than most people's because we are young and because our diagnosis is male factor (as far as we know, all my stuff is working.)

Here's the protocol, for those who are interested in the gory technical details.*

Beginning with my next cycle:

Diagnostic Tests

Day 3 - Sonohysterogram. This is where they fill your uterus with saline and do an ultrasound (the "fun" kind.) This allows the doctor to do some measurements and check the general shape of things.
I'll also have some blood work done to check my hormone levels.

A few days later - Hysteroscopy. Another diagnostic test where they feed a thin telescopic camera through the cervix to have a look around. Here they're looking for fibroids and polyps and anything that's not supposed to be in there. As you can imagine, this one isn't very pleasant to go through, but thankfully it's pretty quick, and it's actually kind of cool to be able to see inside your own uterus up on the screen during the procedure. While they're in there they'll do a trial transfer - measuring to find the best place to deposit the embryos on the big day.

The best part of my diagnostic protocol is ... NO HSG! And no laparoscopy! Those were the most painful procedures for me last time (apart from the ovary stimulation and egg retrieval) so I am thrilled not to have to go through those again this time.


Medications

The normal protocol is to go on birth control pills for the first 14 days, but since I have the Factor V Leiden gene, our Dr. wants to avoid this. What I'll do instead is use another form of birth control (oh, the irony) and use ovulation predictor kits. When I get a positive (meaning I'm about to ovulate) I'll call the office so they can schedule me for the next step - medications.

I'll have some more blood tests, then I'll start taking:

Lupron (20 units) - subcutaneous injections, once a day. This suppresses the ovaries.

Estrace - Estrogen, taken vaginally or orally (woohoo, no needles!)

Progesterone - the Big Ones. Eric will once again have the joyful experience of stabbing a 1.5" needle into my hiney. The RE did say that if the injections are painful for me I could switch to vaginal capsules instead, for which I will forever bless his name.

Somewhere around 6 weeks after my cycle begins (end of December or start of January), we'll do the actual transfer. We're transferring all three embryos (two blastocysts and one morula). This sounds scary, but with a frozen cycle the chances of ending up with triplets are almost zero. And they're only slightly higher for twins. So we're hoping and praying for one healthy, adorable baby.



*If you're wondering what Eric has to do for this cycle, here it is: he has to get bloodwork done to screen for infectious diseases. Which he did yesterday. So yeah, he better be nice to me for a long, long time.

Star Wars Fans, Hide Your Eyes (and Ears)

Oh, the horror.

My Husband

Tiburon did a great post about her husband, and since we just had the gospel doctrine lesson on marriage today, I thought it would be fun to do one too. I'm so blessed to have a truly fabulous husband. And since he doesn't read my blog, I'm not just saying that to kiss up!

What is his name? Robert Eric Watts - he goes by Eric.

How long have you been married? 5 years last May. I can't believe it's already been that long!

How long did you date? This is unclear. We met when we were 15 and dated some in high school. We stayed friends as we went to college, went on missions, and started dating again in 2001. We got engaged after dating for 2 months, and got married 5 months later.

How old is he? 29. He's 6 weeks younger than me, and loves to remind me.

Who eats more? He eats MUCH more than I do. He's a big guy, and I still don't know where he puts it all.

Who said I love you first? He did - when we were 17.

Who is taller? He is. It's not even close. He's 6'4" and I'm 5'5".

Who sings better? I do - but I think he has a really nice voice. He just lacks confidence.

Who is smarter? I think we're pretty equally yoked in the brain department, but we're each smart about different things. He has an engineer's brain and I have a poet's brain. I like to think we strike a good balance.

Whose temper is worse? His. I stay pretty calm and collected most of the time. He flies off the handle at the slightest provocation while he's driving. He is very patient with me though, thankfully.

Who does the laundry? I do, in theory. What usually ends up happening is that he does a whole bunch when he runs out of underwear because I've let it pile up too high.

Who does the dishes? I do, except on rare occasions when he's feeling particularly charitable. I don't mind doing them and he hates it more than anything.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who pays the bills? I do. I like doing the bills and it's one less thing for him to worry about, so it works out well.

Who mows the lawn? Our neighborhood landscaping crew does. When we had to do our own lawn Eric mowed and I did the rest of the gardening. We both like working in the yard.

Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time. I love when Eric cooks though, he is great at it.

Who drives when you are together? This is a sore point - he hates to let me drive. He feels like people who see me driving him around will think he is less than a man.

Who is more stubborn? We challenge each other on this one every time we have a fight. I think I usually win (a very questionable victory).

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? It varies...Eric probably does more frequently though.

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine - which is funny because his live much closer to us. But my dad works in DC so we see him at least a few times a month.

Who proposed? He did, in a hot tub on New Year's Eve. We were both shocked.

Who is more sensitive? Definitely me. I'm working on that.

Who has more friends? I do. I really need friends and social interaction and he just doesn't have the same drive.

Who has more siblings? He's one of 7 kids (blended family) and I'm one of 6.

Who wears the pants in the family? We each take the lead in different areas - I like to think we're pretty evenly matched and we make a great team. And we have fun no matter what we're doing. I'm so glad he's the one I get to share my life with.

Another Update

It looks like the deal is off. The sellers aren't willing to go as low as we want. We actually feel really good about this, surprisingly. Both of us have had impressions this weekend that it's not the right time for us to buy a house. I don't know why, but when we both have those types of feelings independent of each other, I tend to trust them. So we are backing out. I feel really bad for the sellers (they've already had two deals fall through previous to this one) and even more, for my sister, who has put a lot of work into making this happen. But I guess that's the name of the game. We're staying put for now!

Update

Well, it turns out that the owners of the house we love still really want to sell and are apparently willing to sell for the price we wanted. We're making a written offer tonight and if all goes well we'll be closing at the end of the month. Wish us luck!

Real estate craziness

Yesterday we spent the day with my sister looking at properties in western Loudoun. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time looking at houses and letting Sawyer and Caroline play in the country. (Caroline's favorite way to address Sawyer: "Yer-Yer! Stop!") We saw some great places, but nothing we fell in love with. There was one house that was in the perfect location, but a schizophrenic floorplan that wouldn't work for us. And another had a perfect house, but a terrible location, right on the road. The house that originally started us looking is still listed for sale, but we drove by it and the owners were actually there, moving their stuff back in (and they gave us the evil eye when we slowed down to look). Their agent says they might still be willing to sell, but at a much higher price than before since they no longer feel desperate. We're not willing to go that high. So it looks like it's still a no. For now.

Well, that was easy

Never mind, we're not buying that house. We had just gotten preapproval on the loan when we learned that the sellers decided to pull the house off the market and move back in. They had already moved (guess where? That's right - Raleigh) and apparently things didn't work out so they are coming back. And obviously they don't want us buying their house because they need to live in it. Makes our decision a lot easier!

We're still open to buying in the near future though. My sister is taking us out tomorrow to look at more homes in that area. Who knows, we might find a house we like even more. Or we could wait a few more months, which would be fine with me. Or we could still end up moving to NC. Back to the drawing board.

To move or not to move

For a while now we've been contemplating a move. We love the DC area, but it has become too crowded for our taste. Our beloved Loudoun County is becoming so developed now that is bears almost no resemblance to the semi-rural oasis we grew up in. Not to mention that homes are so expensive here. So we've been planning to eventually move to the Raleigh area in North Carolina. Eric's family lives there now, and we love it whenever we go to visit. It is a smaller city with lots of IT work and some great neighborhoods, and most of all, incredibly low real estate prices. The downside would be leaving DC, and leaving behind my sister and her family, and my dad, since he lives here about half of the year.

My sister happens to be a realtor, and in what I'm sure was not a completely altruistic move, she sent me a listing for a gorgeous house in the next county over that had just been dramatically reduced in price. It's a 4 bedroom/3 bath cape cod on two acres in a beautiful rural setting. She took me out to see it on Tuesday and I loved it. Eric hasn't seen it yet but we're going out there again on Saturday. If he likes it we might make an offer.

This would be a complete departure from our plans of moving to NC, and we'd have to rethink a lot of things. I'm pretty stressed out about it - I do not do well with big decisions and big changes. But I feel like this would be a really good move for our family. Eric would have a longer commute (right now he's 10 minutes from the office) and I'd have a longer drive to Target (which would probably save us a lot of money). We'd be farther from church too. But we'd also have a big yard for Sawyer (and any future kids) to run around and play, and quiet evenings without having to smell the neighbors' cigarette smoke or hear their parties. I would have enough space to have as many gardens as I want, and my own soap room. The thought of having a mortgage is scary (we've always rented), but I know we have to take the plunge eventually and this might be a great time to do so. We'll see what happens.

The things I'd never say

Michelle did a post about the things you've never said but would like to given the chance. Very thought-provoking. I'm fairly introverted and I tend to let a lot of things go unsaid, but in thinking about this post I realized that when it comes to the really important things, I do say them wherever it's possible. So most of mine are to people I'm not in contact with anymore. The following are things that I either haven't had the opportunity to say, or that I never would even if I could. Each one is to someone different. Feel free to guess. :)

1) Remember that time at Andrea's when we all fell asleep on the floor in front of the fire, and you ran your fingers through my hair and stroked my face? I was awake.

2) The letter you wrote me after my mission saved me in more ways than one. Thank you.

3) I still can't believe you started out our second date by asking me if I was wearing garments.

4) You are the main reason I believe in fate. I used to think (and hope) things would turn out differently, but I'm glad they went the way they did, and I'm glad you've been a part of the picture.

5) I don't think you ever could have imagined how much I would miss you. And I always will.

6) I don't understand how you can be so incredibly mean to people you're supposed to love. I just don't get it. I hope one day I can understand where it comes from and why you think it's OK to be so hurtful.

7) When we broke up I was completely devastated. I acted like I didn't care, but I had too much pride to show how I really felt. I think you knew this...but I'll never be sure.

8) You were the best first kiss I have ever had. You brought out a gutsy-ness in me that no one else has.

9) Thank you for not taking advantage of a silly 18 year old girl when I gave you every opportunity to do so.

10) It really hurt my feelings when you talked about me behind my back. It screwed things up for me really badly, which I know you didn't intend, but still. Very uncool.

11) I feel bad for ignoring you that time you came to visit me because I was drooling all over a boy. That was really crappy of me.

12) Telling a first date that the temple makes you feel "all tingly" is really, really creepy. I wouldn't recommend it in the future.

13) I'm sorry for breaking up with you the way I did. I was young and stupid and didn't know what I was doing. It still bothers me that I hurt you by not being honest and clear about my feelings.

14) You are one of the most insightful, self-aware women I've ever known. I look up to you in so many ways.

15) Every time I hear a Grateful Dead song or drive through an ice storm it reminds me of you. You were there for me at such an important juncture in my life and you'll never know how much you helped me just by being there to talk to and play guitar with.

D'aim, these are good!

I was at Ikea last week buying some soap dishes to sell along with my soap at the fair, and as I headed for the check-out line something bright red caught my eye. Could it be...it was...a big bag of D'aim candies! I first discovered these little treats on my mission in France. Once in a while we'd stop in at McDonald's, and my companion and I got endless amusement out of ordering "D'aim McFlurries". They are similar to a Heath bar - chocolate-covered toffee. But this is European chocolate and hence bears no similarities at all to its waxy American cousin. YUM! So of course, I bought the bag. It's huge and will last me a long time. And then I'll need to make another trip to Ikea. I might need a cheap dresser by then anyway.

Playdate with Cah-ine

Last week we had a fun playdate with cousin Caroline (or as Sawyer pronounces it "Cah-ine"). They spend a lot of time fighting over toys that neither one cares about when the other is n't around, but they have fun together nonetheless. This time, Sawyer decided to push Caroline around in his umbrella stroller. Caroline always enjoys it when Sawyer ("Yer-Yer") does her bidding.

Crafty People Gathering

Saturday's craft fair went fabulously. It was a long day: 8:30 to 5:30, and Sawyer was with us the whole time. He did great, and even took a nap in his stroller when he got tired (he's never done that before - he's an in-his-bed or carseat sleeper). There was a good turnout for the fair, although a lot of attendees seemed to be there just to look around, not to spend money. I gave out lots of business cards and was approached by a few organizers of other fairs asking me to participate, so that could lead to more sales in the future. Since I'm working on getting my business name out there, that would have made the event a success even if I hadn't sold anything. I did though - I made about 11 times my booth fee. So I'm glad I did it, despite all the stress and late nights of preparation. Thanks so much to all of you who came by to support us!

The fair took place around the historic Lanesville house. It was a really beautiful setting, with trees on one side, a pond on the other, and the house right in the middle. They had live music on the lawn and crafts for kids.


My booth.


Soap display.


Solid lotion, lip balms, and soy candles.


Pillow sprays and herbal balm.


Sawyer, my sunny boy.


A groundhog that lived in the tree behind our booth.

We love New York!

And we can say that for real now since we've been there! A few weeks ago Eric had a work assignment that required him to stay overnight in Manhattan. His company likes him so much that they paid for Sawyer and me to go too. We were there for less than 24 hours, so we didn't get even close to doing everything we wanted to (like visiting Andrea and Jeremy - we'll get you next time!) But we saw some sites, ate some terrific food, and stayed in a swanky hotel, so it was a great trip. Next time we'll go sans Sawyer! Here are some pictures. New York Trip

I'm It

Christie tagged me w/the Middle Name Game!

My middle name is Anne.

A - Anxiety prone. I worry about things too much, especially when it comes to decision making.
N - Nice. Sometimes too nice. But I believe in good old-fashioned courtesy.
N - Nymphomaniac (my husband wishes!)
E - Evolving. I try to continually improve my life and take on new challenges.

If you feel inclined to play, consider yourself tagged!

Where'd the kitchen go?

On the 15th (a week from this Saturday!) I'm selling at my first ever craft fair. The preparations have all but taken over our home, especially the kitchen. Thank goodness for an understanding husband and a child who is perfectly content to watch Dora the Explorer reruns all day.

Beveling and polishing station, plus some candles. The counter in the background has clothespin sachets, herbal balms and body sprays.


Kitchen table with soaps waiting to be beveled and/or wrapped and labeled.


Stove area set up for making candles.


And a finished product - Blackberry Sage soap.

Guess who picked out his own clothes today

Sawyer came to me this morning in just his diaper, pants in one hand and shirt in the other. "Pants? Shirt? Pants? Shirt?" I guess it felt like a colorful, stripey day. It takes a very creative mind to pair a button-down baby Gap shirt with pajama pants!



He's been carrying his stuffed monkey around with him - very uncharacteristically too, since he's never attached himself to a security blanket, binkie or bottle. But he seems to have adopted the monkey and has been talking to it, hugging it and giving it kisses all day. While he was watching Dora I saw him holding it up to his shoulder and patting its back like he was burping a baby. He'll make a great daddy someday...especially if he marries a monkey!