Tuesday, May 31, 2011

a super fun weekend

so i'm back to work fresh off of a nice 3 day weekend.  gotta love those!  we went back to the 'land of our fathers' in order to spend some time with charles' family.  his grandfather is not doing well and it's so difficult for charles to get back here, we felt that the long weekend was a good time for it.  we were trying to remember when the last time was that both of us went to wichita together and we couldnt, probably last summer i guess.
i also got to spend a good amount of time with charles' little sister, which was pretty awesome.  she and i have been able to get to know each other a lot better this last year and i am very happy to say that i am starting to remember what it's like to have a sister again.  the loss of the last one was pretty devistating, so i'm glad to be forming that bond again. 
sunday was our 5 year anniversary.  woo hoo!  it seems like longer to both of us, whatever that means.  i'm not going to waste time with smushy blogging about how awesome he is because he is in denial about the whole "blog situation" and doesnt read it anyway.  but suffice it to say, i plan to keep him around for a while longer.  we exchanged gifts on friday, mostly because he was so excited to give me mine that he didnt want to wait any longer.  keep in mind that we had already discussed that his gift to me would be a night out for a fancy dinner and a couples day spa adventure.  well low and behold, along with the world's best anniversary card, he decides to give me a little camaflouge dog collar.   that's right - beans and i finally wore him down!  i have already been speaking to a couple of breeders and hope to be picking up another little daschund puppy within a couple weeks!  :D  oh the adventures we will have!  apparently charles and beans have already extensively discussed the expansion of our little family and much to his appreciation, beans managed to keep the secret.  even more impressive is the fact that my MOM knew about it and didnt say anything. 
i went this morning for a sonogram.  before starting me on clomid the doctor wanted to poke around.  what a way to start the morning...  but the perscription is filled and i will start the drugs tomorrow!  i am anxiously awaiting a call this afternoon from my doctor's office to explain the next steps.  this has been an extremely stressful process.  i have talked to women who have tried for 7 or 8 years to have a baby and it makes me very sad.  we've only tried just over 2 and already i dont think i could handle another 2.  there are only so many cycles that can be explained away, and coupled with the ever-present military life factor (schools, deployments, etc) - time is just not something that we wait for around here.  but alas, that's the way it goes.  we have great insurance and a supportive bunch of people up here, so we'll be fine.
that's about it for now.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

awesomenosity

ok, i'm back.  pins and needles, right?  pins.  and.  needles.  waiting to hear about MichelleLand.  so without further ado:
Fertility -
i have it.  charles doesnt. 
we FINALLY were able to get through all the military doctor mumbo jumbo/scheduling BS and get ourselves to an infertility specialist a couple weeks ago.  yes, we've been trying to get pregnant for over 2 years.  i am very very pleased with how the initial appointment went.  pending some lab results, we are hopeful that will will be able to take our first round of clomid and do an insemination in june.  JUNE!  yes, it's very exciting, and scary, but mostly exciting.  this whole process is monumentally frustrating on so many different levels.  with the insemination there is a 10% higher chance of getting twins.  and as terrifiying as that thought is, we would welcome it just to get this process over with.  holy.  crap.  so our doctor will do an insemination 3 times before moving to a more aggressive treatment.  we will have a few hundred dollars out of pocket cost for each of these initial treatments and the cost will go up considerably with each new kind of treatment we try.  but really, i'm pretty confident that this will work.  we just have a little bit of number tweaking to do but otherwise we're fine. 
but for the record, don't expect to get any confirmation out of me any time soon if we are actually blessed with our miracle(s).  there will be tight lips for a couple months this time around, i learned my lesson with the first miscarriage, we're not telling anyone till we've passed the first trimester.  and if you ask, i am fully prepared to lie straight to the computer screen.  (and i'm a damn good computer liar)
Weight Loss -
i've been exercising regularly since february.  here in the last month or so i've really kicked it up a notch and have been working with a trainer.  it's been going swimmingly!  my weight held steady at a whopping 196 for about 7 weeks but i was losing inches.  (dont know how many, probably should have measured)  finally last friday it had crept down to 195.  yippe friggen skippy.  but hey, i still look much better and feel MUCH better and i know i am on a good path now.  i started round 2 of another 4 weeks with the trainer this week.  i've also joined a gym.  granted, the gyms on post are free to use but the classes are about $3 each.  but i joined a gym out in town frequented by the wives of the unit charles was supposed to deploy with.  i figure it is the best way to connect with them, so i've been going to classes with them and spending  more time onthe weekends getting to know them and hanging out. 
Extra Curricular Activities -
FRG - Family Readiness Group.  the FRG is the group for families to be ready?  no.  group for families and soldiers in the unit (Company).  for example: charles is in the 40th Military Police Batallion.  (aka 40th MPBN)  so anyway, there's a "forward" unit and a "rear detachment" unit within the 40th.  forward being those currently deployed or "down range", rear being those left behind to support them.  so the FRG is for all, to support the families on both end, and to bring them all together when part of the group is deployed.  well it sounds all well and good, but in reality the FRG can easily become a breeding ground for rumors and power-hungry b-hags.  when they initally deployed, we had a super awesome FRG leader.  but she quickly became overwhelmed and due to lack of support, she stepped down.  now the chick leading it is completely incompetent, unorganized and rude.  consequently, all the nice ladies left here with husbands in iraq are getting crapped on.  so although charles and i continue to go to the FRG meetings to show our support for those who DO actually go to meetings and try to deal with the meany pants leader, we also have taken it upon ourselves to get more involved with the families themselves and just bypass the FRG thing too.  hence the gym membership. 
Home Improvement - we (read: charles and my dad) have done some more remodeling on the house.  the guest room in the basement is done and now the guest bathroom.  the walls and ceilings are white, as are the trim and doors.  i'm not a fan of the white walls.  a number of "discussions" have taken place over the damn white walls, but i finally conceded on the condition that the rest of the house (living room and upstairs living areas, bedrooms, kitchen) WILL be colored.  and once we get it all done, i can start decorating.  i LOVE to decorate.  and you can trust me when i say that you will not be able to tell that the walls are white when i get done decorating those damn plain ass white rooms.  meh!
Charles - surgery #2 will come up this summer.  he is anxious to get it over with. 
that's about all i can come up with now.  sorry i dont have any pictures to go along with it.  i rarely get on the computer at home and i cannot upload pictures to my work computer.  i'd say you could check my facebook page, but other than the mobile uploads, there's not really anything  new there either.  we had a hot valentines day date and a couple of get togethers plus all the home improvement - all made for some pretty great photos which are conveniently still in the camera.  alas, maybe some day...