7-year Anniversary!!!

Dear Bundle of Joy,

Our anniversary is on March 12!!! Last weekend your dad was able to get 2 days off of work... in a row! We took advantage of this and decided that we would get away for one night in celebration of our 7-year (yeah, you read that right... 7 YEAR!!!) anniversary! It is crazy how fast time passes. I thought "older" people were weird for saying that time passes so quickly because in my world it seemed like time was so slow! (However, come weekend time in high school, this was awesome!) But now, Im getting a glimpse at what they meant. 

We were able to stay at a nice little resort in Tucson, AZ... not the most interesting city, but it's out of town, close, and has a great Mexican restaurant that we enjoy. It was a nice get-away filled with talking in the car, shopping, ice cream treat, great dinner, jacuzzi time, and much more. It was great. I love your dad, even if he is a little silly at times.

Homemade (at your table) salsa, Choriso cheese dip, steak and shrimp fajitas, & Lobster-stuffed salmon!

For some reason, we didn't take one together... this is our little courtyard for our room!

This anniversary, I was more able to cope with the fact that you aren't here yet. Usually, it had me emotional that so many years had passed and you still aren't here with us... but this time it had me reflecting on some things. 

Anniversaries are interesting. It is a way to mark a past event:

27 years since I was born,

10 years since your dad and I had our first kiss,

9 years since I graduated high school, 

7 years since were were married for time and all ETERNITY,

5 years (almost) since I graduated ASU, 

....5 years trying to have a baby.... to have you

Like I said before, anniversaries usually mark past events. But, in God's eyes there must be "anniversaries" to future events- a countdown of sorts. Instead of seeing it as 5 years of failing to have you, God knows that it is ___ years until we have you, forever. I need to keep my focus on His promises and keep the faith in His timing, despite the (current) outcomes.

A couple weeks ago in Sacrament meeting we sang the song, "Lord, I would Follow Thee" and a phrase in the second verse caught my eye... and eventually led to tears in my eyes (surprise, surprise):

"In the quiet heart is hidden, sorrow that the eye can't see"

I know that we all have trials, struggles, hard things in life. It doesn't matter if so-and-so seems like they have the "perfect" life... they don't. We all have things to work through, get over, or leave behind. That's what this life is about: becoming better by becoming to know the atonement, using it, and knowing the will of God and doing it. We all have things we are going through that others can't see. I know that this is mine. And, I would assume that there will be many more in my future that I will need the atonement for.

This past week I have been reflecting on the Savior since tomorrow is Easter. I am so grateful for the atonement in my life to help me use it in the capacity of comfort. I know that I am blessed with insights, faith, and comfort when I ask my Savior to help me through this trial. I know that I wouldn't be able to do it on my own. I know that "the Lord knows best". We love you.

Love,
Mom

10 Things I LOVE about MY LIFE Right NOW: 2/10 Eternal Marriage

Dear Bundle of Joy,

I know that I can be happy now, and it would be sad and selfish if I lived with the attitude of "when I have kids I'll be happy", or "when ____ happens, then I'll be happy". (Plus, don't we all know that there's hard things at every stage in life??? I thought I wanted to be done with college and be a real adult... until I realized all the responsibility it held! haha) 

So, here's to things that I love about my life RIGHT NOW!

NUMBER 2: Jordan and our Eternal Marriage

               Excited to be married!                                                                        Always looking toward the temple!

His smirk gets me every time...

My wedding dress!

Sunset

My parents house where we held our wedding reception!

The receiving line before it started...

Our cake cutting area

Our beautiful cake!

He fed me...

...I smashed him...

...He tried to smash me back...

...Jordan gets his first scolding... Haha.

My Husband :)

Love, 

Mom

Still Waiting For You...

Dear Bundle of Joy,

Don't worry- We are still waiting and thinking of you... Like all my past attempts at keeping a journal, I have let time go. It has been 11 months since my last post.

Last April 2014, we were blessed to move into a home that we were able to purchase. It is a cozy home, but large enough for Jordan, me, and Scout. Jordan started flying for a Skydive Arizona to earn flight hours to eventually get to the Majors. During the Winter and Spring 2014/15, your dad has been working about 12 hour days, with only a day or two off every 14-20 days! Needless to say, he is working hard. I love him for that. He is enjoying his work though, which makes it a little easier I guess.

I have been loving the extra time of relaxation I have had this past school year since I am subbing for the district instead of teaching. I get home around 3 or 4 pm now with no thought of lesson plans, countless hours of Individual Education Plans to write, other Special Education paperwork, activities to prepare, or behaviors to manage. It is glorious. However, I do miss the 1:1 long-term relationships with the students that come with having my own classroom.

It seems that we keep running into hurdles trying to get you here. In previous posts, I have mentioned us taking some action with my gynecologist, all the testing and blood work we have done, and the countless hours we have fasted, prayed, and hoped for you. These past 10 months have also proved to bring up a couple more hurdles. Since my iron levels weren't up to par, I had to get an iron prescription. It wasn't anything major, but my RE wasn't going to do the IUI if everything wasn't almost perfect- which I respected. It took WAYYY longer that we anticipated. Almost 4 months. That's 4 attempts that we missed. :( I hate looking at time as "missed attempts"... oh well. Plus, add another month onto that because my doctor's office didn't call me to report my lab results (even though I had the lab RE-send my results to my doctor's office 2 times!), which resulted in me calling almost every other day for about 2 weeks before I could get anyone to call me back... grrr. Once I found out that my iron was up to par, we thought we were ready for our IUI. However, the next month, my cycle began and it didn't stop for a month! It was terrible. Because of this, I had to quickly get onto birth control... talk about COUNTERPRODUCTIVE! Doesn't the saying go, "When it rains, it pours"? Ugh. Another month wasted. I have been on birth control for the last 3 months. This month things seem to be "normal" (...what is that anyway?!), so *knock on wood* that it stays this way!

With all of that going on this last school-year, Jordan and I have tossed around the idea of fostering kids. Maybe just foster to help at first, but if one comes along that we feel fits into our family and we feel that we are supposed to raise him or her- then we'll adopt. Who knows, maybe you are already born and are waiting for us to find you...

I can't help but feel that all these situations that were slowing down our progress with completing a procedure could have been the time set for us to be able to contemplate our other options (fostering). Or, it also could be the hurdles that try our faith before our blessing (you) comes. I don't really know which it is yet... I guess I still need to pray, fast, and go to the temple to receive more on these thoughts...

Whether you come to us via foster, adopting, or fertility procedures- we are still waiting for you.

Love,
Mom and Dad (and scout haha)