Wordless Wednesday

58th Wedding Anniversary

Hey..I feel like I've not written in such a long time. Truth be told, I just can't get back into the bloggy swing. But..today is a special day. Today is my parents 58th wedding anniversary. I had grand plans to visit my mom, sister (Kristy with a K) and Happy Mommy today. We were going to place a special Christmas wreath on my Dad's grave and then celebrate as best we could with a nice dinner that Happy Mommy prepared. Well here I sit in my office...my kids both have sinus infections, bad coughs and I myself have a stomach flu. So much for celebrating.


Since I can't be with my family today, I thought I'd post this picture of my parents 58 years ago today. My dad would've been so happy to celebrate today. He loved getting together with his family but more importantly, he loved his wife more than words could say. He set such a high standard as a husband that I didn't even consider marriage until TBD came along when I was 38.


Anyway, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

***I know this is supposed to be wordless and that Happy Mommy has posted this picture a few times but I wanted to see my Dad's photo on my blog too. It's been a week today...

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Happy Mommy Age 2

In keeping with the theme of Happy Mommy's birthday week, I'm sharing this adorable picture of her at my grandma's house (her great grandma). She used to love to play dress up and her and our cousin Justin were playing "indians" that day. This is her showing us her little rain dance...isn't she just too cute?

So again, Happy Birthday week Happy Mommy! Love you...
For more "fro me to you" action, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and check it out...you'll be glad you did.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Week in Review

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Milo Age 10 Weeks

My IVF transfer was on 9/11/06. About a week later (this time that same year), Happy Mommy tells me of a French Bulldog puppy for sale in her neck of the woods. Twice Blessed Daddy and I had talked much about getting a Frenchie puppy for about 2 years but were on the fence about it. I asked TBD what did he think? He wasn't exactly for or against it but since we were still waiting to see if I was pregnant or not...we decided to wait. Well...I waited about 2 hours and then made the call and found out that the puppy had just been sold. Not to be I thought. So after a few hours of being bummed, I decided to look on Pet Finder for Frenchie Puppies and this is what I found:

I almost flipped!!! He was the cutest Frenchie puppy I'd ever seen! His name was Langdon. I called the breeder and yes he was still available. I told TBD to look at his sweet little face and that was it. We put down a deposit and bought ourselves a Frenchie. We arranged to pick him up on Friday 9/21 in Pennsylvania.

On Thursday 9/20, we got the call that my test was positive! And my hcg levels were triple what they should've been so we had a feeling right from the start that we were having twins.

On Friday morning, we drove to PA to get Langdon and we promptly changed his name to MILO. This is his picture on the day we brought him home....by the way, the breeder informed us that this litter was done through IVF so we knew right then, it was meant to be...I was having an IVF baby...he was an IVF baby...funny huh?:

Here are a few more pictures after he was in our home and settling in;

So here's to Milo who's our crazy clown dog and such a special part of our family. We're so happy you've been a part of our lives for the past two years!

For more "Fro me to you" action, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and have yourself a look.

Wordless Wednesday

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Tate and Reese Day 5 Transfer

Twice Blessed Daddy and I both waited until we were a bit older in life to get married. On January 15, 2005, we tied the knot...I was 40 and TBD was 44 (it was also TBD's parents 50th wedding anniversary). We decided to try and start a family right away. We had trouble conceiving on our own, so we did what many people do and turned to a fertility clinic. I will tell you that one of the worst things a woman can hear in her life is that she has "old eggs". After one failed attempt at IVF (10/05), we waited almost a year before we tried again. I was the one who wanted to wait. I was in such a funk after the first round failed and was very depressed for several months. It hit me a lot harder than I had expected.

In the summer of 2006, I started working out much harder than usual. I went from running 2-3 miles a day to 3-5 miles a day (5 days a week), I walked 2 miles almost every morning with Mrs. G before we would head over to Curves. I also walked with TBD some evenings. I decided that I was going to be in the best shape I could be in if/when I ever became pregnant. Later that summer, our church had a series called "Deep Water Faith". On the kickoff Sunday of the series, they placed a blank sheet of paper in the bulletin. After the service, they asked everyone to write down a subject that needed to have complete faith about. You could sign it or remain anonymous. We were told that all notes would be read and that the staff would pray for each and every request. I wrote almost word for word, "TBD and I are trying to decide if we should try IVF again or go straight to adoption. We want to have faith that the one we choose is the right decision". I placed my signed piece of paper in the oak box.

Two days later, I woke up from a dream and knew right then and there that we were supposed to try IVF one more time. I turned to TBD and told him that I just had a dream about us and IVF and felt absolute peace that this was the right decision. He agreed to proceed but requested that we change clinics. Not a problem. I also told him that I wanted to go to an acupuncturist who specializes with IVF patients. We made our appointments later that week and we were all set.

We went on vacation to London and Paris and on our way home 8/11/06, I started my first injection of Lupron while on board the airplane. It was kind of cool, sitting in our seats and TBD giving me a shot in my belly. I had a great month without too much pain and my retrieval date was 9/6/06. They were able to get 10 eggs from me..this was great news since the first time I only had 5. We waited for the progress report daily and it was decided to transfer on 9/11/06, day 5 which is amazing (for those of you who don't know much about IVF, a day 5 transfer is the best you could hope for)!

So two years ago today, on 9/11/06, I finally had something wonderful happen to me. After living and working in NYC during 9/11, it was about time that something special happened on that date. Here is a picture of Tate and Reese taken right before they were implanted in my belly. This day turned out to be one of the best days of our life! (I covered my real name.)



I'm so happy that our church had that series. We prayed in earnest to have the faith we needed to make our family complete....and it worked!

For more "fro me to you" action, go to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and check it out. It's the best thing in the blogging world happening on Thursdays.

Wordless Wednesday

Update on Tate

Tate's surgery went as well as could be expected. He did have a cataract which had to be removed, meaning they removed his ocular lens. They were able to open his pupil which was the main goal of his procedure. They did have to make one serious decision and we're glad that opted to stop where they did. I should mention that Dr. Trese (doctor in Detroit) was aware of Tate's surgery and acted as a consultant. After removing his cataract and all the lens cavity, they wanted to make a small hole in the back of his lens chamber. After noticing that Tate still has some residual ROP scaring, they realized if they did make this hole, it would pull on his retina. This is where Dr. Trese will come in. We will be making hopefully a final trip to Detroit so he can do this delicate procedure on Tate. So all in all, this is a good thing. Tate will probably have to wear glasses or a single contact on his right eye but that is so minor.

Tate's primary doctor who lead the surgery told us that Tate's cataract was so opaque, that he didn't really think that there had been any useful vision in his right eye. What?? Here we've been so worried about this procedure since all this time we've thought it was his "good eye". After Tate's right eye was patched yesterday, we were not sure how much he could see out of his left eye which has a severely dragged macula. I tell you people, I'm so happy to report that Tate was not the least bit affected by his right eye being patched (except that he kept trying to remove it all day). He played and acted like his usual self.....so now we realize that even though his macula is dragged, he still has had very useful vision out of his left eye....who knew?

I'm looking forward to know how he sees after I take him to the doctor this morning to have the patch removed. Since his pupil is now open, he should be able to see much better. And we do know he was nearsighted in that eye and removing the lens should correct that. The reason he'll need glasses or a contact is to replace the lens and help him focus.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. It has really meant a lot to me and our family. I'll keep everyone posted on when we make our trek back to Detroit. Maybe there's still hope for me and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ First Time I Held Tate

This picture was taken on March 7, 2007 and it was the first time I held my son. His nurse Connie let me hold him and I was so happy that I could hardly contain myself. My parents were there with me but TBD was on his way to the hospital from work and he missed it. I was so happy that Connie took this picture and gave it to me right then and there. She was one of my favorite nurses of Tate's. I'm doing this "Fro me to you" on Tate because I found out yesterday that he is going to have his long awaited eye surgery next Monday 9/8 (my sister's birthday- Happy Mommy's mom). This is a very complicated surgery and they are expecting complications but 2 of his doctors will be there to handle any situations that may occur (ocularplastic surgeon for the iris and retinal surgeon for the retina). Please pray for my little boy, that the Lord has mercy on Tate and that there is NO cataract, hence saving his ocular lens.


This next picture was taken last Saturday when we all went to Kings Dominion for my nephew's birthday celebration. Tate loved the merry go round and I loved taking him on it...that's not completely true! I had just rode a roller coaster with Luke and my brain was a bit rattled and I felt very nauseous and going round and round didn't help!



Anyway, please be so kind and keep Tate in your prayers.

For more "Fro me to you" fun, check out Kristen's blog at "we are THAT family".

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Luke!

Today is my nephew Luke's 7th birthday! I can't believe how time has flown by. We've been very fortunate to be able to celebrate most of his birthday's with him. This year we're taking the whole Happy Mommy family to Kings Dominion to celebrate. Should be a lot of fun for all!

Today I'm sharing some goofy pictures of Luke and I. He loves it when we take these self portrait pictures and so do I. Happy Birthday Luke Skywalker....We love you! (I think we have a tongue theme going on here.... the first pic is my attempt at rolling my tongue which everyone in my whole family can do except me and my mom.)







I did find a picture of Luke's 4th birthday in 2005 when we were at Busch Gardens. We went to Water Country in the morning and Busch Gardens later that evening and back to BG the next day. This is taken at Water Country. I even found one of our sweet girl Daisy at the pool with us. Like HM said, she is only 5 weeks old but she had fun that weekend.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My family came for a visit a few weeks ago and we all had a very nice time with each other. My mom's sisters came to see her for a few days and my cousin Stacy brought them along with her daughter Emily. All of them along with Happy Mommy, her kids and my sister Kristy came to my house one day for lunch. I had purchased Mother/Daughter aprons a while back and planned on having them on when they arrived. When everyone saw Reese and I in matching aprons, they thought it was the cutest thing. I did it for Happy Mommy who loves aprons...I wanted to make her laugh. Miss Reese helped me prepare lunch for everyone! The Apron Queen would've been proud! Here are a few photos from that day;







My sister Kristy is facinated by that fact that I can feed 2 babies their bottles at once. She always brags on me which cracks me up. Here is a photo she took of me doing just that. Hey a twin mom has to be creative!



I'm so happy that my Aunts, counsins, mom, sister, neices and nephews came for a visit. It was short but we sure did have fun laughing with each other. Thanks for coming guys..

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Age 7 Months

As I mentioned a few SFMTY posts ago, I was recently at my Mom's house and went through a lot of her old photos. I saw this picture of me as a baby and nabbed it. The back says I'm 7 months old and taken in 1965. I think I look very sweet...now I know why Reese's hair has taken so long to come in thick. Anyway, just thought I'd share. For more fun, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and enjoy!

P.S. This may be the dress that my sister Kristy was the first to have her picture taken in, me second, Happy Mommy third, Daisy fourth and Reese will be the fifth. Happy Mommy, please confirm.