SURPRISE!!

So today I went to the doctor for my big ultrasound.

We've been waiting anxiously for this day 

because not only would we find out if the baby was 

a BOY or GIRL, 

we would also be able to see how the baby is developing.

The baby was moving around a lot and was all scrunched up so the ultrasound tech had a hard time finding everything. Soon after, though, the doctor came in and looked again and was able to declare that the baby looks great!

After the ultrasound I stopped at the store and bought 

helium balloons of the appropriate color (blue-boy, pink-girl)

 and put them in a box I had previously wrapped.

When we got home we polled everyone in our

 little family whether they thought we were having a boy or girl.

Here are the results:

Caleb-Girl

Brayden-Boy

Brian-Girl (before the ultrasound)

Me-Girl (before the ultrasound)

 We then had the boys open the "present" to find out.

(Brian recorded them opening the "present" and it was so cute to watch

their excitement and anticipation! When they saw the color of the balloons

both jumped up and down and Caleb declared, "Yeah a party!" Unfortunately I get an

error message every time I try to upload the video. So I guess you're stuck

with pics to find out instead.)

Yep, I'm seriously outnumbered now!

Oh how I LOVE them-all 4 of my boys!!!

Now if we can just come up with a name!

Miracle #3

 I've seen quite a few miracles in my life. 

This post is focused on 3 of the miracles

that bless my life everyday with joy, laughter and love.

After almost 5 years of trying to fulfill our dream of becoming parents-

hoping, praying, rejoicing, dreaming, crying-

(I'm usually a very private person so I don't think I'll share all the details, especially online, 

suffice it to say that I have a difficult time getting pregnant and 

a hard time staying pregnant.)

-we were blessed to meet one of the most wonderful, bravest girls-EVER!

The day Tanya entered our lives and our hearts, our family changed forever.

I love our Caleb so much and thank my Heavenly Father everyday

for him- our MIRACLE!

Not long after Caleb turned 1 I found out I was pregnant again. 

I was so excited, 

AND nervous that this pregnancy would end too early like the others,

AND hopeful that everything would work out and we'd be blessed with another baby in our family.

Other than 1 tiny scare at the beginning the pregnancy went well and 

our Brayden was born just a few days shy of 39 weeks. 

Once again our family was changed forever 

and I am so grateful everyday for this additional MIRACLE in our lives!

We were hoping that we would be blessed again with another baby soon 

after Brayden was born, but that was not to be.

After more visits to our Reproductive Endocrinologist

and a couple more diagnoses that decrease our chance of getting pregnant even more,

we were told that our best chance would be to do IVF.

At first I thought, "Ok let's do it! Whatever it takes!"

But then reality set in 

and we started getting nervous about all the medications I would have to take,

the emotional roller coaster involved with IVF,

and the cost.

So we decided that we should ask the ONE

 who would know for sure what we should do.

We prayed and fasted, 

and asked our family to do the same.

The ANSWER- We felt like we should try a medication we had tried once previously.

We were so excited when I got that positive pregnancy result a couple of months later.

Brian commented that we were starting 9 months of worry-

TRUE (I'm naturally a worrier!) 

but also 9 months of HOPE and DREAMING-

and GRATITUDE for this MIRACLE!!!