I've got a praise! Before I get started, let me say I am not pregnant...that I know of! With that said, here's my praise- I ovulated!!! I bet you're wondering why this is such a big deal. Well, if you remember back to a few posts ago, I mentioned that my doctor did not prescribe me chlomid this month because we were waiting on the CF results. That means that I ovulated without any medication!!! So now I'm finding myself in a position I wasn't sure I would get to be in this month...waiting to find out if I'm pregnant or not!!! I can't help but think back to what God was teaching me these past few weeks, He is POWERFUL !

On another note, Nolan's B-day/memorial/playground dedication party is officially scheduled for November 7th from 4:30-5:30 at the church. There will be food, cake (or possibly cupcakes), Michael and I speaking for just a little bit, a moonwalk, and hopefully the playground! I'm hoping to get invitations out soon, so get ready!

Yea!

Another quick update...Michael is not a carrier!!! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Children's Church

Just a quick update tonight. We haven't heard back about Michael's results yet. I've been strangely peaceful and calm while waiting. So thank you for all your prayers. Hopefully I'll be able to update about that this coming week.

I can already tell that my cycle is very off this month, which means it doesn't look good for ovulating. I was starting to feel a little upset and worried by this over the past few days. This morning we woke up late and had to prepare for teaching children's church on top of that. Needless to say, I didn't think I was going to learn much today at church, considering we got to Sunday school halfway through the lesson, and we wouldn't be in the service. But wow, who knew a lesson meant for children would teach me so much. Today's whole lesson was centered around how powerful God is. Simple, yet so easily forgotten. It talked about how we have nothing to fear because God is bigger than everything on heaven and earth. I think God's timing is amazing, that Michael and I would be teaching children's church this weekend and have this lesson.

Today

Today seemed to be the day of bad news. An hour into school I realized that my cycle had started. I was surprised at how much peace I felt and was able to go on with the rest of my day with out too much distraction. I made an appointment for Friday with my doctor and was ready to move on to the next stage of "treatment", feeling very hopeful for next month. I started to feel a little exhausted right before Michael picked me, and when I get tired, I tend to be more emotional. So I reminded myself that I was not going to cry this month and started to look at the calendar and counted out how many days until the end of the next cycle (I know this sounds crazy, but I'd imagine it's fairly common among those going through infertility). As I was doing this, I received a phone call from our fertility specialist. I was pretty sure he was just calling to talk about the appointment on Friday, I completely forgot about the genetic blood testing I had done last week. Not sure why we decided to do the testing. I was against it when I was pregnant with Nolan. Our new doctor made it sound like everyone does it (since that's a good reason to do something) and that there was really not a good reason not to. So we agreed for me to get blood work done for cystic fibrosis. I can honestly say that I was 100% expecting to hear that neither of us carried the cf gene. Well, I it turns out that I am a carrier for the most common mutation of the cf gene. As long as Michael is not a carrier, this poses no problem. Both parents have to be a carrier for it to show up in a child. Now Michael has to go have blood work done tomorrow and we'll find out in a week or two if he is also a carrier. The chance of both of us carrying the gene is 1 in 800. So it's pretty slim, however, if we do both carry the gene, it's a 1 out of 4 chance that our child would be born with cystic fibrosis. But again, the possibility of Michael having the gene as well is pretty small. Unfortunately, my doctor has decided to wait until we have the results of Michael's test to continue with our fertility treatment. So he cancelled my appointment on Friday and told me that we should be using "precautions" to not get pregnant until we have the results-He won't prescribe me chlomid until we have the results. He then continued to say that if we we're both carries that he would recommend IVF so he could test each embryo and not use any that are carrying the gene. Well, that's not an option for us. We've already decided that we will not be "throwing out" any embryos. So we would start looking more seriously into other options .

Hopefully this long rambling mess can help you know how to pray for us. Right now the biggest thing is that Michael is not a carrier for the cf gene. Also that God will give us peace while we wait. For right now we have decided to go against the doctor's orders and we are not using any precautions or doing anything to prevent getting pregnant. If Michael is not a carrier, we will be resuming fertility treatment like normal since the possibility of our child having cf is pretty much 0.

I know I may be jumping the gun by thinking about what our future looks like if we are both carries since that possibility is really low, but I can't help but let my mind wander there. Every time I start to feel sorry for myself, I'm reminded of one very important thing- I'm forgetting to live with an eternal perspective. It's very easy to begin to feel like the world is beginning to crash in on me. For the past year things have not been going how I have hoped or planned- all starting with loosing Nolan. It's the first time my life had ever really deviated from MY plan. But God is giving me an opportunity to grow closer to Him through perseverance through this trial. I'm learning to trust in Him regardless of the circumstances. I'll admit, I've asked Him many, many questions recently. Some have been answered, and some have not been and may never be here on earth. Like Job, I have even asked why it seems like everyone around us seems to be being blessed except us. Then God reminds me just how blessed Michael and I are. A couple of times, I had even started to feel myself becoming angry. But I thank God that he has taken the anger away. It's such a horrible place to be. I guess it's easier than facing hurt and sadness. For some reason I think anger takes away some of the feelings of vulnerability that infertility creates. Still, I am so glad that God has delivered me from that. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not praying for this trial to be over- that there be a different way for God to be glorified through our lives and marriage, because I definitely am. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But as long as this is the path God has us on, than we will continue to glorify Him until the end of it. So, to end, I'm going to post song lyrics again. Sometimes I think they can better convey what I'm feeling and trying to say better than I can myself. Thank you for your prayers. We are very grateful for them.
"The pathway is broken And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley If You want me to
Chorus: Cause I'm not who I was When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise
You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to"
Ginny Owens

Our Lives this month!

I hope everyone has had a great Labor Day weekend! Michael and I decided to take off and go to San Antonio! We had a blast. We decided not to set an agenda for the weekend. We just had a list of things that would be fun to do. If you ever go to San Antonio, I highly recommend going to the Natural Bridge Caverns. They were really beautiful. However, I did not get any pictures due to the fact that I left my camera at home!!! Every time we saw something that looked cool, I felt the need to make the comment that it would make a really great picture if I had brought my camera. Even without my camera I still really enjoyed it, and now I have an excuse to go back! Yesterday we went to Max Lucado's church. Great message and he's such a great speaker. Again, if you go to San Antonio on a weekend, it's definitely worth going to his church.

I have officially started to plan for Nolan's 1 year birthday party. I'm not really sure what an appropriate title for it is yet. We're hoping it's also going to coincide with the playground dedication at church that's being done in memory of him. So, if you have a good name for the party that I could put on the invitations, let me know!

This month Michael and I saw a fertility specialist for the first time. He said that everything looks good!! Right now we're just waiting. So if you could please pray that we would not be anxious. I truly believe that God is going to bless Michael and I with children, I just don't know when or how, but I do believe it will happen!

Another Month

Can't believe I let another month slip by without updating. What a month it has been! Michael and I really enjoyed spending some time with both our families. And I enjoyed my last month to relax! I'm back at work now and somewhat excited/overwhelmed about this year. I'm taking on a brand new math position, so there is no system set up yet. I'm excited about the challenge to help create a new program, but also a little nervous. Right now I keep staring at my room and hoping it will magically organize its self and look fabulous by Friday. Michael is being a wonderful husband and volunteering his entire Friday to come help me set up my room!
We are having to do another round of chlomid. I guess I thought that since I had gotten pregnant with Nolan without any medication that I was going to be pregnant the first month I was on chlomid. Now we're on month 3 of chlomid. I just don't understand. My doctor said I had good ovulation last month so I really got my hopes up. But, I do have to remember that it is great news that I did ovulate...a step in the right direction. So we are continuing to try, and we are putting our trust in God's timing- even if we don't understand it. A difficult thing that I've been learning is to praise God even when I'm having a hard time. As corny as this may be, there's a song that I absolutely love that talks about this...
"I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen and it's still raining as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm"
Casting Crowns

Yesterday

Yesterday turned out to be a fairly eventful day for Michael and I. It started out completely normal. We went to church and enjoyed a lunch put on by the youth. Then we went home, relaxed, and decided to buy a new vacuum cleaner. For some reason, Michael and I seem to have trouble with vacuum cleaners. They stop working correctly within a years time. So, we decided to get the Mac Daddy of vacuum cleaners...we got an Oreck!!! After we made our exciting purchase, we were headed to go play cards, but I wanted to stop and buy batteries for my new flash. As we started to turn into the CVS off of the beltway, I suddenly heard a screech and then we got hit. This is my first official accident that I have ever been in. We quickly pulled over to the side in the parking lot and hopped out. It felt like we had been hit pretty hard, but our car had a surprisingly small amount of damage (but since the tail pipe was bent, it had to be towed). The lady that hit us had a significant amount of damage to her front end, but thankfully no one was hurt. Everything went a lot smoother than I thought it would. The police officer showed up, asked what happened, checked everyone's information, and then sent us on our way. Everyone was extremely nice and no one was upset with anyone. The whole process wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Now we'll see if dealing with the insurance companies is as easy!

Two weeks ago, I practiced my picture taking on my dear friend Katy and her family. Her two kiddos are absolutely precious! I feel the need to mention that it was incredibly hot when we took these pictures. I think I was dripping with sweat about 5 minutes into the photo session. I have no idea how they managed to stay looking so beautiful in the heat, but they did. Thank you Katy! I enjoyed it so much!!

This is probably my favorite picture!

So sweet!

I love Jonah's smile in this picture!

Again, I love Jonah's smile in this picture. Next time I'll make sure that the sun is not in everyone's faces- sorry Dennis!