Made You Laugh!

I feel like I've started this blog out with an overload of "heavy" topics, and while heavy topics will definitely be visited on this blog, I don't want it to be all heavy all of the time.  So, today I thought I would lighten things up a little!

Several years ago I received this from a friend in an email and as I was going through some papers the other day, I found it again.  If you have ever known a man, I am sure you will find mutiple areas of truth in this!

WHY MEN ARE PROUD OF THEMSELVES:

1.  A 5-day trip requires only one suitcase.

2.  We can open all of our own jars.

3.  We can make decisions without a support group.

4.  We can leave a motel bed unmade.

5.  We can kill our own food.

6.  We get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

7.  Wedding plans take care of themselves.

8.  If someone forgets to invite us to something they can still be our friend.

9.  Underwear are $10 a 3 pack.

10.  Three pairs of shoes are more than adequate.

11.  We don't have to clean the house if the meter reader is coming.

12.  Car mechanics tell us the truth.

13.  We can sit quietly and watch TV with a friend for hours without thinking, "he must be mad at me."

14.  Gray hair and wrinkles only add character.

15.  We can drop by and see a friend without having to bring a little gift.

16.  If another guy shows up at a party in the same outfit we just might become lifelong friends.

17.  Your pals will never trap you with, "So, notice anything different?"

18.  We are not expected to know the names of more than 5 colors.

19.  We are totally unable to see wrinkles in our clothes.

20.  The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.

21.  We don't have to shave below the neck.

22.  A few belches are expected and tolerated.

23.  One wallet, one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.

24.  We can do our nails with a pocket knife.

25.  Christmas shopping can be accomplished for 25 people on the day before Christmas and be done in 45 minutes.

Author Unknown

My sweet girl, I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!

So this is just a little something I want on my blog so that I can look back on it as a sweet memory.  My oldest daughter is five, and with her late summer birthday she did not make the cutoff for kindergarden at the school we want her to attend.  So, she is finishing up one final year at a wonderful little preschool.  Now I don't know what school was like when you were young, but back when I was in school (and I admit it's been awhile!) we were still learning our letters in kindergarden and reading didn't begin until 1st grade.  Well, the times, they are a changin', and kids are learning and doing things much younger these days.  So my sweet girl is learning to read and I must say, I am very proud of how far she has come at such a young age.  They have been working on digraphs (combination of 2 letters making one sound) at preschool lately.

Apparently one of the little girls in her class had a birthday on Friday and Emily Kate's goal is always to make people feel special.  So, when she got home she gathered her art supplies (this girl loves her some art!) and went to work.  She didn't mention to me what she was doing and so when she brought the card in to show me, I saw the front and said, "Loose!  Good!  What does it mean?"  She looked so sad and said, "Ooooh.  I made this birthday card for Lucy and I thought I spelled her name but I guess I didn't."  She was so disappointed.  My heart immediately melted!  "Ooooh…Luuuucy…of course, Lucy!"  We then had a little talk about what a great job she had done.  I told her how she used the digraph perfectly and how I could see exactly why she spelled Lucy the way she did…because it sounds just like she wrote it but that Lucy is a bit of a tricky name.  We decided that she would still give Lucy the card and she would explain that she tried to write "Lucy" but that it didn't quite come out like she spells it, and that we really hope she likes it anyway.  Lucy did, she loved the card! :)

Emily Kate, I want to tell you that I am just SO very proud of the little girl you have become.  So very caring and thoughtful of others.  There are a lot of adults, Mommy included, who could really use a lesson from you on giving and thoughtfulness.  A homemade card just to make someone you don't even know very well feel special.  Wow!  You are amazing and mommy is so very blessed to have you for my little girl!  I love you to the moon and back!

Front: Her name is Lucy :)

Inside:  A big birthday cake with balloons

Back: Lots of love

Compassion Meets Hollywood!

We are huge fans of Compassion in this house and as it turns out, we are in great company!  At a large leadership conference last year, the new CEO of Compassion had the chance to meet and interview none other than the great Hollywood TV producer Mark Burnett (producer of Survivor, The Apprentice, The Voice, Shark Tank, and The Sing Off) and his wife Roma Downey (creator of The Bible, the amazing miniseries which aired on TV earlier this year).  Jimmy Mellado (Compassion CEO) was able to tell them all about Compassion and their mission to bring the heart of Jesus to the children while at the same time lifting them out of poverty.  Mark and Roma were all ears and have since fallen in love with the work Compassion is doing all over the world.  The Lord has laid it on their hearts to embrace Compassion and it's mission fully and they are now getting the word out there in a way Compassion has never seen before!

This coming Friday, February 28th, 2014, their newest work, Son of God, will be released in theaters all over this great country (please see the official movie trailer below)!  I am so excited for this movie and for so many people to get to know the Jesus of the Bible!  But there is more!  At the end of movie Mark and Roma are going to give a promo for Compassion, telling of their mission and asking people to pray and consider going to the website to sponsor a child!  This is such great news for these poverty stricken children and for Compassion's mission!  This will be exposure on a level Compassion has never seen before!

But there's a problem!  It just so happens that my husband now has his dream job working in the IT department at this great organization and they could use our prayers.  Their team has been working literally night and day for 2 weeks trying to make sure that their web servers will carry a load larger than it was ever intended to carry (after all, who knew they'd be getting this kind of national exposure!?!), but a load that we pray and expect they will get from people interested in sponsoring a child after Mark and Roma so kindly give their promotion of Compassion at the end of the movie.  However, there is currently some sort of glitch with the web servers that they, as a team, cannot seem to figure out and the servers are currently crashing at random (and of course, people can't sponsor kids if they can't get on the website).  This small team is exhausted but committed.  They are is still working night and day and will continue to do so until the time that they can locate and fix the problem.  But please, we need people to pray that our Lord will either help them to locate the problem before the Son of God opening night this Friday or even that He will just somehow miraculously sustain the servers in some way through the influx of hits we pray it will get in the coming weeks.  We would sure appreciate your prayers!  And please don't forget to watch the movie trailer below!  It's going to to be AWEsome in the truest sense of the word!

PRAISE UPDATE:  2/27/14 (day before movie premiers) They have finally located the problem and have apparently been able to fix it!!!  May not seem like much but this is HUGE for Compassion and especially for the little people who need their/our help!  Thank you Jesus!!!

Baby Jogger City Mini GT Anyone?

If any of you out there have been seriously considering getting a Baby Jogger City Mini GT either single or double…now might be a great time so stop considering and buy!  The 2013 models are on crazy sale on a few different websites!  Just didn't want anybody considering one to miss this sale!  Free shipping too (as well as free returns on Amazon only)!

Amazon has the City Mini GT single for $100+ dollars off right now…you can get it here.  And then there's the City Mini GT double for almost $200 off…which you can get here!  Fantastic deals!

And just in case you happen to have something against Amazon…Albee Baby can help you out too!  Just click here for the single and here for the double!

Happy Strolling!!!

Hope for Infertility Part 2

I shared our infertility story here.  It was such a difficult time in our lives for sure.  C and I always knew we wanted more than one child and in 2011 we started thinking about contacting the infertility clinic once again.  It was June and we figured it would take a month or so of workups before we could start the process plus another 4-6 months of IUIs before prayerfully and hopefully we would be expecting another child.  That seemed like good timing for us and the different things that were going on in our lives and so we went in for our initial appointment.  We completed the workups and what-nots and left that day knowing that we needed to come back to complete the testing as soon as my next menstrual cycle began.  So we waited.  And then we waited some more.  We waited until it was abundantly clear there was no reason to wait any longer.  It was long past due and it didn't have plans on coming any time soon.  For my entire life my cycles had been very regular and I could not believe that now was the time my body decided it was going to betray me once again.  The month we want to start back up with infertility treatments and my body decides to wonky on me.  So, I started preparing myself for a very rocky road ahead.  My doctor had mentioned that she had medication to get the menstrual cycle going again but I knew she needed me to take a pregnancy test just to be sure any fetus wouldn't be harmed by the medication.  So, I took a pregnancy test for the sole purpose of being able to tell her that the test was negative and that I would like to start the medication.  Not for one tiny moment did it even cross my mind that I actually would be pregnant.  But I was!  I was pregnant!  And not only did we not need any medical intervention what-so-ever but we weren't even trying to conceive in any way.  I was stunned so I went to the store to purchase more tests to confirm.  Every one was a positive. :)  We were so incredibly grateful to our Heavenly Father for such a precious gift…and with no infertility treatment heartache attached.  And then, nine months later on March 18th, 2011, our sweet Sophia was born...

And you know what?  The Lord wasn't done with His grace and abundance yet!  C and I had been debating for some time whether or not to add one last child to our family before we shut down this little factory for good.  I was really confused and, due to my age, I didn't have time to be confused for long.  I had always wanted a third child and definitely wanted another sibling for my girls.  But, at the same time, I was so very happy with the 2 little miracles I had been given and to be honest, I was starting to feel quite settled in being a mom of 2 as well.  I also realized that it was October and I had been adamant for some time that in January C was going to take a little trip to the doctor to having his baby making abilities shut down forever more.  I wasn't going to change my mind about that.  That left 3-4 months max.  Not ideal for an infertility patient!  Even though Sophia had come as a hugely wonderful surprise, I think the infertility process had been so seared into my brain that I still continued to think of myself as some who needed serious help getting pregnant.  

So, we decided to pray and totally give it to the Lord.  I told the Lord that this was going to be completely up to Him.  I told Him C was going to the doc. in January for the big V and if it was in His plan for this family to have one last child before January, then only He could make it happen.  And then, in November, we got one last positive pregnancy test!  Our last baby is due August 6th, 2014.  As I was writing my first post on infertility two nights ago, I felt the little munchkin move for the first time!  Such a fantastic reminder of how far the Lord has brought us.  What a mighty God we serve!!!

So I hope this serves as just a little more hope that once infertile does not necessarily mean always infertile. :)

Where is God when I'm Hurting?

Where is God when I'm hurting?  Many a book have been written about this topic.  But several years ago, upon discovering what has become one of my all-time favorite books regarding God and questions of His existence, I read a great analogy that sums up this question of such great enormity so very well.  I wanted to share it with you.

The book, called Letters From a Skeptic, by Dr. Gregory A Boyd and Edward K. Boyd wrestles with a skeptical father's questions to his Christ following son.  The son, an Ivy league trained theologian, answers many letters from his father addressing questions that run the gamut relating to the existence of and love of God.  The father asks and the son answers each question so eloquently and yet in the simplest of laymen's terms.  The letters were originally just private letters, as any of us might write to a friend or family member.  They were never intended for a book.  But to our great benefit, they made the decision at some point to turn them into this great work.

In this particular exchange they are discussing why prayers so often seem to go unanswered.  Dr. Boyd answers his father this way…

Perhaps we can think of it this way.  Lets say there was a little house inhabited by American allies on Normandy beach when D-day broke out.  In fact, let's suppose that the family in this unfortunate beach cottage consisted of the son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren of the head captain of the invading American fleet.  There they were, caught in the crossfire of this terrible battle.  Let's say they had a radio line with this captain and they could radio their requests to him during the battle.  They told him they were being hit both with enemy fire and with American fire.  They told him they were wounded and needed supplies, hungry and needed food, etc.

Now the captain cares a great deal about his family and he would like to answer every one of their requests.  But, at the same time, there is a larger battle to fight, thousands of other lives to consider, and the outcome of this important battle which must be of preeminent importance.  So sometimes this captain can meet his son's requests.  But other times, given the strategic warfare of the enemy, he cannot.  And perhaps sometimes their requests aren't even to their own advantage given the course the battle is taking.  But, the unfortunate family in the beach cottage doesn't have this broader prospective.  They only know that the captain is on their side, that their requests are heard and are taken into account, and that sometimes their requests are granted and sometimes not.  But they, lacking his strategic prospective, have no idea why this is the case.  They don't have a purview of the whole battle.  Their perspective is limited to the tiny windows in their cottage.

This writing has just given me such a different perspective on my myopic little view of the world.  It reminds me that our Heavenly Father is not distant at all in our times of trouble.  He is always there, always protecting, and always providing.  So if you're hurting and wondering, I hope this brings you comfort, the visual of your Captain, your Heavenly Father, working ferociously, tirelessly and endlessly through the battle to bring you all the desires of your heart just soon as He possibly can.  HE LOVES YOU!

A Very Scanty Introduction

Hi there!  I'm Jenn and I'm the new kid on the Mommy blogging block!  Actually, I had this adorable layout designed by the wonderfully talented Jenn at Munchkin Land Designs (you should definitely check her out…she is awesome to work with!) almost 3 years ago.  However,  I had just had my second baby and while my intentions were good, it was just really idiotic of me to think that I could start a blog at such a time as that.  I just ain't got that kinda organizational skillz people!  So, embarrassingly enough, this adorable design has been sitting here, stagnant, for almost 3 years.  Posts, pictures and everything else needs updated! BUT, I just noticed that Kelly at Kelly's Korner is having an infertility link up today and...important is important people!!!  Time for me to get this bloggy thing going!  So I rushed to get my post up in hopes that it will offer maybe a little hope to someone else going through such a struggle.  However, it is now 4:17am which means Mix and Match Mama has officially started her day before I have even ended my last one.  Not my goal people!  Not my goal.  Furthermore, if I don't get at least a little sleep in the next 2 hours and 45 minutes before my kiddos start yanking' my eyelids open to "see if you're awake yet Mommy," then I will have big trouble on my hands and will likely have some serious splainin' to do at the child welfare office by tomorrow afternoon.  So, I feel it's best if I catch some zzzzzz's before moving on.  If you are among the first to read my infertility post tomorrow and you look at my blog and are confused as to why it looks so bare and the pictures seem extraordinarily out of date, may I beg you for some grace (and also forgiveness for this big run-on paragraph) and ask you to check back on the weekend when I have managed to get my brains back in my head and put some coherent thoughts into print.  Thank you!  You're the best!  MUAH…and goodnight!

Hope for Infertility

Infertility.  It's a harsh word isn't it?  But so many don't realize the harshness of it.  Like many others, there was a time I hardly knew it existed.  Never really gave it much thought.  Nope.  My thoughts were all directed toward the babies I would one day deliver.  From the time I was a very young girl I had big dreams.  Every Saturday my siblings and I got to take turns choosing an outing with my Grammy.  And every week when it was my turn, without fail, I drug my poor Grandmother and my siblings to the hospital to stare at the newborn babies through the nursery window (HIPPA laws were much more lax in those days).  It's not most peoples idea of a great field trip but nothing excited me more.   Grammy was a good sport.  She knew my love for babies and I know she wanted to foster that in me.  So there I stood, until they drug me away, dreaming through the window about one day getting my turn to cuddle one of those sweet little bundles wrapped in pink or blue blankets and snuggled in their bassinets.  I loved everything about it.  It was pure heaven to me.  Heaven was having a baby.  As I grew a bit older, I continued to make my rounds at the hospital nursery and marched off to dreamland to play house with my dolls every chance I got.

The years passed and my desire to be a Mommy never waned.  C and I met when I was 29 and married 2 years later.  A little over a year after we got married, we started trying to conceive.  I expected it to take at least 3 months and had read that the average for most couples was about 6 months.  No problem.   My dream was finally about to come true!  Only it didn't.  And it didn't.  And it didn't.  Twelve then thirteen months of "and it didn'ts."  I was confused.  Overwhelmed.  About the 5-6 month mark I had started reading every book I could get my hands on to make sure we were doing everything possible to optimize our ability to conceive.  Nothing worked.  I went to my gyn.  She gave me a referral to the infertility clinic.

C and I both went and had thorough workups (many people think infertility is a female problem but a whopping 50% of infertility issues are male related so they really need to be checked too!).  Sure enough…diagnosis = infertility...but worse yet…cause = unexplained.  Not helpful.  Not helpful at all.  They gave me a fairly large dose of clomid.  I used it for a few months.  No luck.  They explained that the next step was IUI (intrauterine insemination) and gave me an Rx for 6 months worth (it was the military and that's how it works around those parts).  They also informed me that 6 IUIs was the max they would give because if it hadn't worked by #6, it wasn't going to work for me at all.  No problem.  Six was plenty!  I was full of hope once again.

I had already looked into doing IVF (in vitro fertilization) through the military and knew that for us personally, we had ethical issues with the military process and had made the decision that that was not going to be an option we would pursue.  Because we were eligible for military services, our insurance didn't cover a single dime at a private infertility clinic and so we knew financially, that option would be ruled out for us as well.  IUIs were the end of the road for us in terms of biological children.  But I wasn't scared.  Six IUIs seemed like a lot and I was so filled with hope that it was going to work.  Month 1.  Pregnancy test was negative.  Month 2.  Another negative.  Okay, I'm starting to get scared now.  Really scared.  I'm trying to hold on to hope but not even medical interventions are working and in four (what now seemed like very short) months I am going be completely out of options.  I was never going to have a biological child.  Prayer prayer and more prayer.  Month 3…nada.  Desperate.  Month FOUR of only six…another big fat "not on your life."  Flailing.  Grasping for hope like a drown victim.

I picked up a Christian book with a title indicating hope for the infertile.  Inside were stories from people like myself.  Infertile people.  I read about a woman who had been infertile for some time, in fact, she was never able to conceive but instead, she found a sunday school class full of children.  She taught them.  She loved them.  And she spoke of how they filled that void within her.  She was now so happy and felt complete.  I sat there stunned.  I couldn't even begin to wrap my mind around it.  A sunday school class?  THIS was my hope to fill this gaping, gushing, never going to stop flooding my soul with sadness/depression/loneliness wound in my heart?  A sunday school class was my hope?  I felt SO desperate by this point and this was it?  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  And then I did.  I lost my mind.  I lost control.  The book of supposed hope, the sunday school class in place of a child, it sent me over the edge.  I started screaming, crying, sobbing from the depths of my soul.  I'm never going to have the baby!  I have spent my entire life dreaming of having children and now I am going to have to find a way to make a sunday school class suffice instead?!?!  Trying to squeak out whatever words I could muster I told the Lord I would rather die (I was not suicidal in any way).  I told him I could not possibly spend my life trying to fill this void with anything less than a baby.  I mean, I didn't tell Him in English.  I told him with groans and utterances only our God could ever understand.  In that moment I had lost every last shred of hope I had left.  Still whaling, I was making noises I am not sure human beings were ever intended to utter.  By this time I was on the ground  C was standing there (bless his heart…and I give him full credit for not running as far and as fast as he could and never coming back) but he just looked stunned by my behavior.  It didn't phase me.  I was so far beyond caring what anybody thought about my outburst in that moment.  The neighbors could have come over and I could not have gotten control of myself.  Heck, we lived in Washington DC at the time and I kid you not, if the President himself would have stopped by, I would not have been able to find a way to pull myself together.  All of the pain, all of the fear, the hopelessness, the desperation, the loneliness.  It was all coming to the surface.  I have no idea if it was 15 minutes or 30 but at some point I managed to pull myself together to some extent.  I even managed to keep on breathing the next day.  I didn't want to but I wasn't dead yet so I didn't have a choice.  I begged the Lord several times that if he was never going to allow me to have a baby he had to bring me to heaven because the pain of this earth would just be too great to bare.

Side note (and yes, I realize this is a very odd time and place for a side note! Ha!): For those of you who have never walked in these infertility shoes, please don't be too quick to judge.  I know this story or others you may have heard can seem way overly dramatic but infertility for many of us women, whose biggest dream in life is to become a mom is a totally consuming issue.  It robs you of SO MUCH.  For many of us, it feels as though our entire identity as women has all of a sudden vanished.  That's HUGE.  Several years ago I heard some big wig psychiatrist talking on a morning news program.  The topic was infertility and they were talking about the seriousness of infertility on a woman's frame of mind.  I remember he said, "Infertility is a very serious issue.  The people who come into my office with infertility issues are every bit as depressed as the people who come into my office with a terminal illness." I don't doubt that for a second.

Shortly after going to see the infertility specialist for the first time, I happened to find a very supportive chat board.  It was a huge blessing in so many ways.  I could go there, vent, and the ladies understood in ways even my family couldn't even understand.  I found out about treatments others were pursuing and they asked me about mine.  One of the ladies suggested that I ask the doctor for a particular medication given via a shot, and also for a trigger shot on my next round.  I had nothing to lose so I asked.  The doc agreed.  She sent me upstairs to get the medication from the nurse.  The nurse showed me the little vials and then the needle which was literally several inches LONG.  I knew I was going to be giving myself these shots at home so I asked her just exactly how far I had to force that huge needle into my body.  Surely a little prick would be enough, right?  She replied, "all the way!"  I chuckled.  I knew she was kidding.  She wasn't.  I died.   I didn't think it could get worse.  It did.  She told me I needed to do a practice stick right here.  Right now.  "And I have no time for fussing or squeamishness" she said.  Remember Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest?  You're picturing her now aren't you?  If you aren't, you should be.  I called upon all of the Holy Hosts of heaven and somehow managed to get that Olympic sized javelin needle through my leg.  Then I ran as fast as my legs would take me out the door.

So, we're ready for IUI 5 of 6 now and on top of my other meds I'm shooting up regularly.  C and  I were sitting in the waiting room at Walter Reed.  I had heard other women on the chat boards describe what it felt like to ovulate on these medications and as I sat there, I felt the same "pinch" they described.    "I think I just ovulated" I said.  He looked at me and I could tell he was grasping for something else, ANYTHING else, to say. He changed the subject (talking about ovulation is SO FAR from his thing) and  I let it go except for a quick thought of it being impeccable timing, if I had, in fact, just ovulated…considering we were in the doctors office ready for an IUI and all.  I was teetering between trying to have hope and being much too afraid to do so.  We got called back into the office.  We "did the deed" in a most unconventional manner and were sent on our way.  We white knuckled it through another 2 weeks (oh how those roller coaster 2 week increments are hades on earth, aren't they?) and at the end, sure enough…on November 4th, 2007 I took my first ever positive pregnancy test!!!  We were SO STUNNED and OVER THE MOON!!!  And SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL to our Heavenly Father for seeing us through one of the most difficult trials of our lives.  Five years later, here is the beautiful result of God's faithfulness...

So, in all of this, what I really wanted to say most is to those of you struggling through infertility right now.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  Even if you can't reach out to your family and you're too hurt or reserved to talk to friends, find a supportive chat board.  There are plenty out there and there are REAL people struggling with your same issues.  They, better than anyone, (with the exception of Christ of course) know what you are going through.  I always find it ironic to think that the Lord didn't use a doctor to give me the perfect combination for success.  He used a random lady on a chat board!  If I had never "met" her, I would never have asked for that particular medication combo. and my life may well have taken a very different path.  But God had a plan.

I also wanted to say that I forced myself to share some of the more embarrasing parts of my story because I think all to often we read infertility stories that talk about it being one of the hardest times in their life…but what does that mean?  What does it look like?  I wanted to share what it really looked like for me because I often wondered if I was losing my mind while others were able to hold it together. I tried so hard to trust the Lord through it all, knowing He was truly my only hope.  But at times, the shameful truth is, I doubted Him big time.  I knew He certainly could but I didn't believe he would for me.  But He NEVER let me go!!!  Hold on tight to Him in this storm!  He LOVES YOU and He is FAITHFUL!!!

P.S. - Please come back for part 2 to hear how God saw us through another 1.5 pregnancies.  It shouldn't be nearly as long. ;)

P.P.S. - If you are currently going through this battle with infertility or any other difficult time for that matter, I hope you will take time to read my post, "Where is God When I'm Hurting?"