Milestones

Is it really the end of July? Where did June go exactly? *Sigh*….

It seems like the weeks are just flying by these days for sure. My sweet little princess will be 6 months this Friday and it seems like we just came home from the hospital. Reese is in the middle of so many new things right now and we are having a blast watching her grow and explore. Recently, she has started solid foods and absolutely loves it! I am a crazy researcher, planner and have literally been researching how to start solids and which ones would be best for Reese since I was pregnant. After reading many books, blogs and discussing my ideas with our doctor, we decided to start Reese on oatmeal cereal and it was an instant hit. She has been eating oatmeal good for month now so now it’s time for veggies. Child cannot get enough of this stuff! I decided to make my own baby food using organic veggies where I can.  My first batch of food consisted of roasted sweet potatoes, carrots and yellow squash. This was super EASY, all you need is a food processor, strainer and some ice cube trays…that’s it. She loves them all and we cannot get the spoon refilled and in her mouth quick enough. This week she started green peas and avocados. We have also introduced the “sippy cup” to get her use it and slowly take her off the bottle. She has been so interested in our cups and I think this makes her feel all big and grown up (slow down princess)! This has been interesting to say the least. She is teething, therefore it seems that she mostly gums at the cup but she definitely knows where it goes and how to get the liquid out. I was really worried about the transition to solid foods, but she is doing so well with it…proud momma for sure!

Since four months we have been doing basic sign language with Reese. Of course, we do not expect results from her at this age, but with all the repetition, hopefully she will be able to use it soon…but no pressure. It sure has been fun for us to learn the different signs and what they mean. We are so anxious for those first words. Not really what she says first, we both generally say “mama” and “dada” when we talk to her but just to see what that sweet little voice will sound like!

Reese has had a busy few weeks. For Father’s Day we surprised Caleb with a trip to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play. This was her first really long car ride, but she did really well. Let me give you a little baby travel advice…never use the cribs at a hotel…even a nice hotel like the Hilton. We really should have taken our pack and play, but honestly I thought wow, they offer cribs so we will just use that. No. The mattress was really thin and it was covered in stacked sheets for more “cushion”. Lesson learned. Reese loved the ball game and enjoyed looking at everything. Our tickets were great and not in the direct sun so it was not too hot. We stayed right across the street from the ballpark so I was even able to take her back up to the room to eat and stretch out for a little bit. We had dinner at a really nice local steak house and visited a vintage flea market before heading home. Can’t wait for another getaway with my loves!

Reese has been a very active baby since she was born, but she has been a very busy body here lately. She has been moving herself all over the place in her crib and pack and play, but mostly likes to be on her feet in her jumper or one of us holding her upright so she can “walk”. I know she will be on the move more in more in these next few months and it’s only going to get more fun to watch  run after her.

I never knew how much I could love something so small! Every day, she does something that completely amazes Caleb and I…so sweet!

A New Addition

When Caleb and I were married in 2008 there was no doubt that we wanted children, but we knew we wanted to wait and enjoy our time together as a married couple first. In August of 2009 Caleb and I decided that we were ready to be parents so we would start trying and see what happened. At first we were not too serious. I did notice that my cycle was not very consistent, but I did not think too much of it.   By February, we were more serious and starting to get frustrated, I figured my cycles were to blame. After a year, I was a complete mess, why were we not getting pregnant? I had several friends who had gone through fertility treatments, but never thought I would have a problem conceiving. My mom had no problems with me or my sister, Caleb’s dad and mom had no problems…what is the deal?

 Our OB/GYN suggested that Caleb have a semen analysis and with good results there, we try Clomid. After some research we decided to try this to see if it would make my ovulation more regular. Caleb’s analysis came back good with the exception of a lower than usual motility, he read up on this and began taking vitamin C every day as a couple of sites suggested.  We stayed on Clomid for 6 months and had no luck. In November, our doctor ordered an HSG test to see if my tubes were open and during the procedure they showed that my right tube was blocked!  We were very fortunate that they were able to open this tube up during the HSG and we had no additional procedures. We thought for sure that after seeing the tube and knowing it was now unblocked we would be good to go.  After another three months, our doctor referred us to the Arkansas Fertility Clinic in Little Rock. I had very mixed emotions going into this. How long will it take us, what type of procedure would we have to do, what kind of money are we talking about here since our insurance would not pay for fertility…the questions in my mind were endless. We did blood work, tests, ultrasounds, more tests and finally came to the conclusion that we would need to try the IUI or Intrauterine Insemination. This is one of the least invasive fertility procedures that can be done. Our doctor told us that the chances of conceiving were around 19% and most people would get pregnant after 3 tries if it was going to work. Now, 19% does not sound like very good odds to me. So, we continued to pray that we would not have to go through this struggle for more than three months and we would hopefully be blessed with this child on the first try. Caleb had his 3^rd analysis conducted before the procedure and his numbers were amazing! 47 million with very high motility and morphology so after the sperm were cleaned and separated, they did the procedure with 29 million sperm. Thankfully, this was a very fast process! I was told to come back in two weeks for a blood test to see if we were pregnant.

On that Sunday morning before our 2 week mark, I had to take a test because I had a feeling (do you ever get those?) that something was going on with my body. I tried not to make too much noise because I did not want to wake Caleb up. We had been here before, taking tests with failed results so I did not want to get his hopes up. After taking the test, it did not even take a minute to the words “pregnant” to show up…I was completely in shock! I have never seen these words and the emotions I felt were uncontrollable. I praised the Lord for allowing this miracle to happen to us, in HIS perfect timing. I then took the test, got back into bed (still in shock) and placed it on Caleb’s chest…he said “what is this?....are you serious?”  It was the greatest emotion to be able to share this with each other. We had both dreamed of what this moment would be like and it was PERFECT! It was the hardest thing to keep my mouth shut! We wanted to tell our family so terribly bad, but also wanted to confirm this with the two blood tests from the doctor. I went in on Tuesday and Thursday and my numbers had more than doubled so we were sure it had to be true! We told our immediate family over that weekend and all were ecstatic!

A few months ago I had stumbled upon a website that sold baby announcements that look like game tickets. I told Caleb this would be the coolest thing and we would really surprise our families with this. We ordered them, had them rushed in and that is how we told our parents, grandparents and siblings.

On week 6 we were able to see the baby for the first time and hear the heartbeat…what an awesome sound for something so small? This really made me feel more like this is real and I am not dreaming…it’s really happening!

115 BPM :)

You can see it's little head and eye socket if you look really close!

I wanted to share my story here because I know you can never hear enough encouragement about infertility. It is such a hard struggle and we were only on that path for a short time. There were months were all we could do was ask God why? Why can we not have children? We have a loving home, stable marriage, great family, good jobs, what else do we need to do. Caleb kept me so grounded and I am so grateful for him. Every month he would say it was just not the right time in God’s plans for our little one’s life or our lives. Patience is a hard thing. I am not very good with it, but I am learning to slow down and get better at it.

Only our close friends and family were aware that we were going through fertility treatments, so I encourage everyone to be careful how you approach people when discussing babies with those who may not have any yet. I had some very hurtful things said to me by people who had no idea what we were going through. It’s not their fault.  Being encouraging and intentionally calling to check friends you know are going through this struggle means so much. Our church family, family and friends were really good about this and it really helped me know that so many people were praying for us.

As I am writing this, I still cannot believe it is true! It is such an exciting time in our life and we are so blessed to be down this road at the perfect time, HIS timing for our lives!

God bless everyone of your who are going through this struggle and God bless those sweet little ones who are already in your lives.

We are at 9 weeks now and have not done a very good job at the picture taking, but my goal is to take a picture at least every two weeks if not every week.  

He Who Rules the House

Christmas Pictures by Bunting Photography...Check Them Out

I have always had a soft spot for dogs. I cannot remember ever not having one. On Christmas Eve 2009, Caleb brought home the cutest little Maltese you have ever seen. We had discussed getting a dog since we got married, but I did not feel we had enough time to spend with a dog. Little did I know that this little dog was different…he is a little boy. I really do not think he knows he is not a dog. We treat him as though he is our child making him fresh chicken and rice, letting him sleep in the bed between our pillows and talking to him like he understands us…which he does.

Hanging out at the pool

We had a hard time deciding what name would fit this hyper little boy. We discussed several and finally came up with Ratchet, like the wrench or Ratch for short. It fits him very well!

He LOVES riding in Daddy's racecar!

When Caleb and I get home from work, he is so happy to see us! He loves to play outside and pitch 2 year old temper tantrums if we don’t pay attention to him. He also likes to bark…howl…and dance on his back two legs as he begs us to hold him or give him some of what we are eating.

Cheering on Auntie Sue Sue and Mommy at The Women Can Run 5K

He has gotten so spoiled that he knows we eat a snack before we go to bed and he will stare us down and bark if we fail to share.  So if you can’t tell, this post is dedicated to my little baby boy Ratchet…

Relaxing with Mom in the racecar trailer

…what a life….

The best little thing that has ever happened to us!

Here Goes Nothing

I am new to this whole blog stuff…you have been warned. I have wanted to start a blog for some time now mainly for my own personal journal so here it goes. My husband and I have been married over 3 years and we have two furry loves, Ratchet-a two year old Maltese and Lilly-a six year old Boxer. We are super busy like the rest of the world and enjoy every minute we get to spend together.

Caleb is the Manager of one of his father’s transmission business. I manage business continuity and disaster recovery for the State of Arkansas. Although we share many interests, drag racing is what we enjoy the most. Growing up, my parents always raced. My childhood is filled with memories of my father’s ’68 Camaro and racetracks across the southern United States. When I was 6, my parents purchased a dragstrip and it forever changed the course of my life.

On a sunny Sunday in May, 2006 Caleb wrecked his  racecar…a Ford…(possibly his only fault) and it ultimately led to our courtship and eventually marriage.  Caleb’s father shares the same love for cars and racing and has instilled it in Caleb’s heart. For this…and millions of other reasons…he is the most perfect man I could ever imagine spending my life with.

This blog will focus on our life as a young married couple and our adventures. We both love the Lord with all our hearts and we are blessed beyond words. We know that there are reasons for all the actions in our lives and we are excited about the blessings that have yet to come.

Family.Love.The Lord…it doesn’t get any better than this.

Welcome to a day in the life of the Emberson’s!