Olivia Claire

My good friend, Sandy, from The Winding Road blog took pictures of our beautiful Olivia, this week. Sandy is extremely talented, as you can see by the pictures. Sandy and I have been friends for a while and she is who I credit with getting me started with running and fanning the flame for vegetarianism. She is a fantastic cook, super mom and an extraordinary photographer. Thank you, Sandy, for capturing the spirit of our Olivia. Here are the pictures.

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

From New Album 1/28/09 5:06 PM

Here is a slideshow of all the pictures because I had such a hard time picking a few. Here they all are! You can double click on the slideshow to make them bigger.

Put your hands together...

No, I don't need applause, yet! Please, put your hands together and say a few prayers for us. We are doing IVF in Davis, CA, this week. The first procedure is tomorrow. We are very excited!

Other big news is that we are moving to Meridian, MS at the end of February. We need prayers for that leap of faith, also! It is by no surprise that God has blessed us more than we could imagine. The sequence of events leading up to the egg retrieval, tomorrow, have been nothing short of a miracle! The timing of finding out that the Air Force has released us from active duty, to calling the fertility clinic to see if we could change this cycle to IVF, to finding out my uterus is clean with no fibroids or polyps, to having responded wonderfully to the hormone injections...AMAZING!!! God is so good.

Olivia knows a little bit more than a 4 yr old should know. She has accompanied me to every appt I've had in Davis for the past year. She reads books while I have the ultrasounds and has made some good friends in the secretary, Anna, and the nurses, especially Su.

So, today, Olivia told her gymnastics class all about my "surgery" and how the doctors will put together the egg and sperm and put the embryos in my tummy and then i'll have a baby. Her teacher stopped her when she started using hand motions. Stephanie thought that the other kids might have more questions than she could handle. :-)

My next procedure will be Saturday or Monday. At that time, I get to RELAX for 2 days! I'm extremely excited about that. I'm so pumped about watching some good TV and funny DVDs.

Thank you for all the support and prayers! I will keep you posted. Pray for happy, healthy eggs and sperm and then beautiful embryos!!!

Here is my little fertility doctor with her friend, Anna.

From New Album 1/27/09 7:25 PM

A Mississippi Christmas

It was such a blessing that we were able to spend Christmas 2008 in Jackson. It was one of the best trips we've had to MS, in my opinion. We saw as many family members as humanly possible. We ate some totally awesome food (much of which Les Deux Soeurs prepared). Olivia got to play with tons of cousins, friends, Aunts, Uncles and Grandmommas. And best of all, we were healthy the entire time, which makes a HUGE difference. Thank you, God (and Juice Plus+)!!! There is a lot of love in Jackson, MS and we enjoyed soaking it all in while we were there. FYI: You can click on the slideshow to make it bigger.

Wrap up of 2008!

2008 sure was a great year! It ended at full speed. We had so many different activities and events in October, November and December. I still don't know how we did it all and still have our sanity. Okay, maybe I did almost loose my sanity. haha.

So, to wrap the year up, here's a little summary of our lives at the end of 2008!!

Polar Express Train Ride in Old Sacramento. We were joined by our friends, Michelle and Joseph. Stephen's presence was a last minute surprise. He magically got the day off! All he had to do was BELIEVE!

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Blurry pic but cute!

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

The next day, we headed to the hangers to see Santa come to Beale AFB on a U-2! This has always been one of our favorite events here at Beale. This year, was our 4th time. Wow, time sure does fly!

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Teary eyed because Daddy just dropped her popcorn.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

We spent our whole time at the craft tables. She loves crafts!

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Crafting with her friend, Zoe.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Olivia's first time to sit on Santa's lap. She's freaking out in this picture. I'm pretty sure Santa needs a nap. She did have a conversation with Santa (complete with her adorable hand gestures) and tell him that she wanted a Teddy Bear for Christmas.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Olivia and I picked out a tiny tree at a stand up the road from base. I loved our little tree.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

Baby cows trying to nurse on a horse. What a nice horse to these week old calves.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

We wanted to take them home with us.

From New Album 12/7/08 7:10 AM

The next weekend, we celebrated Olivia's Birthday (early) with her friends. It was a Pajama Party with an Ariel cake. She loved it! Olivia is so sweet. She kept telling me thank you and giving me hugs. That was exactly what I needed after working so hard on the party. Thank you, Olivia for being grateful.

From New Album 12/13/08 5:04 PM

The weekend before Christmas we went to see the Nutcracker with Olivia. This was our second year to attend the Sacramento Ballet with the Sacramento Orchestra. It was awesome!!! We sat on the 5th row and Olivia just soaked it all in.

From New Album 1/5/09 3:50 PM

She's excited!! Can you tell?

From New Album 1/5/09 3:50 PM

We crafted some homemade gifts before we took off to Jackson, MS. Here are the yarn stars. Michelle, pitched in to help me. Thanks, Michelle.

From New Album 1/5/09 4:34 PM

Joy Jars that were filled (when we got to Jackson) with happy thoughts for the day and memories Olivia had with her Grandmothers and Greatgrandmother.

From New Album 1/5/09 4:34 PM

We squeezed in baked goodies for our neighbors on base and then packed our bags for Jackson, MS. We are abundantly blessed!

Sandy's Shower

We had a shower for my friend, Sandy, back in November. I think I was waiting to post this on the blog until I had the pictures that Sandy took. Her pics were much better. Then, I just forgot about it all together. So, to document that the shower did take place, here are the pics that I took. We had a great time catching up with eachother. After much planning, cooking, and baking, the party came together. Thank goodness! I wanted Sandy to have a special shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of Jacob (check Sandy's blog for Jacob's pics- he was born on the 26th of Dec.)

Update

After a year of fertility treatments, 2008 was not the year for a 2nd baby for our family. We are hopeful that 2009 will bring us great health, much love, and a new addition to our family. I'll keep you posted.