Poked and Prodded

Wall of miracles!


Baby Delaney!

The last 24 hours has been crazy! I haven't updated in a while on our "family plannin" status! Well, obviously we don't have any news as far as being pregnant, but we did finally see a reproductive endocrinologist! Many of you have read about my good friend Betsy who after 3 years of trying and a very shaky pregnancy but a wonderful delivery of Delaney (1 month ago today)right? Well, she struggled with infertiltiy and failed procedures until Dr. Whitten was placed in her life. Four months later she was pregant!SO since then she has been pushing his name into our conersations and encouraging me to go see him. Dan and I finally decided enough was enough, we are either going to go pursue this, or stay content with the three of us...which we still be no matter how this turns out!
Yesterday was our first visit! Totally not what I expected of him, but he is the Bella Keroli of fertility! He sat us down and showed Dan pics of eggs, follicles, ovaries, tubes etc! Then he said, "well, you are at the perfect day in your cycle for some testing." He is so passionate and excited! His arms flail everywhere when he talks! So yesterday I had 4 tuebs of blood removed (yikes) and was told to "get together" and come back today for more testing! So we did...sorry for those who dont like details!
Today we did an ultrasound that showed "the most beautiful egg." Then we looked at the sperm swimming on a slide..they really do live 24 hours! ( the dr. said he wished dan was there because he should be proud of them!ha! Next I had a dye test of my fallopian tubes to check for blockages. They inject dye in and I got to watch it travel through the tubes and spill back out to the uterus. "Brooke, you passed with flying colors! This is great, wonderul," he said! So then back tot he office I went to have an HCG shot to release the egg for tomorrow! WOW! All this in 24 hours! So, i go back in for blood work next friday to see if my progesterone levels are high enough to support a pregnancy if one happens this weekend.
He is so passionate about his job, it exudes him! What a wonderful man! SO, in two weeks, we shall see! I am excited but after all this time, have become content with our family and have let myself let go of all the worry and sadness of what might not be! It will be what god wants it to be!
Back to Betsy, as I sat in the ultrasound room, I was looking at the wall of miracles that he has helped bring into the world, and there was Baby Delaney! I got teary eyed thinking back to the journey I took with Besty and what it means to all if us to see Delaneys picture on that wall!
As yall continue to pray for the family we are trying to create, please pray for my cousin Robyn and Bryan who have just begun the journey of in-vitro. They are about 12 days away from the full procedure!

Baby Abby

Yesterday Amy and Dan Smythe welcomed baby Abigail to the world! Amy had a c section and is recovering so well! I went up and saw them today! Amy was sitting up in the chair on the laptop (so like me) and Dan was hanging out! Abby is precious and so healthy! She looks just like her dad I think! COngrats Amy and Dan!

Happy Birthday Big D

On Monday Big D turned 31! Since it was a Monday we celebrated Chicago Style at Unos pizza with his family! We had a great time visiting! Cole of course enjoyed Dans dessert since he cant have ice cream! We came home and opened presents and laughed hysterically again at the cards mom and I had picked out. To make a long story short, mom spent the weekend with me last weekend and we were at target picking out cards and we laughed so hard we peed our pants. We stood in the aisle for 15 minutes looking at the same two singing cards and laughed harder every time...especially when Cole began singing them as well! The man in the aisle I swear hung around just as long to watch us pee ourselves and laugh! We plan on doing the bar celebration on Friday night with friends!

The Bertinos + Hanks the Tank = 1 year!

Hank in the snow!

On vacation!

Watching it rain!

Bringing him home!

This is the one!

Well, we made the terrible decision a year ago to take the trip to Salem to the breeder to see if we wanted a new puppy! What were we thinking? OF course we came home with a dog!Over the year we have endured lots of pee accidents,some chewed door frames, lost ham sandwiches and about 3 pairs of underwear, several toys and about 30 socks! You think Im exagerating? I have been jolted out of bed several mornings to him getting ready to puke and throwing him into the bathroom to avoid the carpet! With all the annoying querks he's brought, we have kept him becuase Cole thinks he's the best thing ever! He is rather cute, but LARGE! He is somewhere around 100 pounds right now!

Pirates Have Landed!

Well, Coles room now has pictures! We decided since he is obsessed with pirates, we thought it would be fun to add pirates in his room! I found really cute canvases that we had personalized and he LOVES them! When people came over this weekend he would say in his pirate voice of course,"Look, theres me, Im a pirate!" THis is the only accetns we have so far..Im sure we will ad to the theme! Sheets are next!

Valentines Past and Present!

GEtting ready!





Getting

ok, so in the other Valentine blog, I told you I couldnt believe how
fast he has grown. As I was uploading the pics, I saw the valentines 2007 folder! Look! I cant stand it!

Getting Ready For Valentines Day

mmm...good batter!


Look! His name!


Working hard!

When Cole and I were picking out his Valentines for school, he asked me "Mom, what is Valentines Day?" I responded, "well, its a day where everyone gives cards and hugs to show we care." Not really sure what to say but it must've been ok. He picked out Spiderman cards this year and as always, we made our cupcakes for dad!
This year brought tears to my eyes! This year he was able to sign his own cards! I know, Im cheesey, but he is just growing too fast! Now, depending where your name was in the line up, his name got less and less legible! ha! By about 10, it was pretty bad, but for a 3 year old I was proud!
As always, he enjoyed licking the beaters after we were finished! Nothing like a little raw egg in the diet!
I hope you all had a fabulous Valentines Day!

To The Batcave!

Cole and Isaak in the "batcave"


Underwear Batman!

Cole transforms daily into many characters! Sometimes it is a pirate, sometimes spiderman, and lately Batman! We spend lots of time in full costume. Lucky for Cole, his buddy Isaak has become interested in it as well. The other night they played togethter and both were wearing their capes (dishtowels) and Cole had on his mask and they had swords. It is hysterical to watch. Well, when they finally needed to calm down I enticed them by building a "batcave" for them to watch a movie in! Cole has been into building tents lately so it worked out perfect! The best was that they were in full costume.....in only underwear! Too cute!

Scared the Life Out of Me!

Looking at my room from this angle...no cole!


Nope...cant see cole!


Still no Cole!


Sound asleep!

Last night, I had tucked Cole into his bed about 8:15. I sang him his song and went to the couch! Of course at night I am totally exhausted and fell asleep on the couch. At 9:45 I woke up and made my final round to tuck him in again before going to my bed. I opened his door and went to his bed to discover....HE WAS NOT THERE! I thought "oh he must be in my bed." Well, not there either! I frantically began searching our not very big house! I looked under beds, in showers, baths, hampers, drawer, dog cage! After about 5 minutes of looking and my panic disorder setting in, I began to wonder if I had blacked out and done something with him that I couldnt remember. I knew I was on the verge of passing out so I called Dan at work and said, "I cant find COle." He said "what do you mean?" I repeated myself. He kept telling me to calm down and scream his name..which I did and no response. I checked all the windows and doors and they were locked. We were now going on 10 minutes! I kept retracing my steps through the house. I finally went back into my bedroom and looked in the dog kennel again and didnt find him. I finally looked behind the kennel and next to the nightstand in the corner in a maybe 2x2 area...there he slept! I burst into tears and sat on the floor and cried while Dan tried to calm me over the phone! Needless to say, he slept with me! I asked him this morning why he went in my corner and he told me "mom, I was very afraid of the dark." I of course after calming down, took pictures to prove that you COULD NOT see him from any angle I was looking!

Beautiful Baby Shower!

The details in the flowers!


Luara after seeing the head table!


The precious plate!


THe head table!


The adorable cake!

Yesterday I went to Lauras baby shower for baby Estella!It was so dainty and elegant...if ever I wanted a little girl...I mean the pink, the flowers and ribbons and bows!It was so precious! Her aunt didnt miss a beat! Laura of course cried several times! We had a wonderful time! We cant wait to meet Estella in a few LONG weeks right Laura?I had to put up some photos so all of you with only boys can see what so many ribbons looks like! ha!