My Fab Five

Lots of fun moments this week. Here are my top five faves...

#1 - Emma's new Art Class through the City of Tempe. We go once a week for a month and it costs a WHOPPING $5. Not having to get my house messy with projects is worth 10 times that amount... but don't tell the City of Tempe. $5 is just fine.




#2 - Watching Greg and Emma share a carton of "Samoa Girl Scout Cookie" Ice Cream. When Emma and I purchased the ice cream at the store, I told Emma it was for Daddy because it was his favorite. She was SO excited when he walked in the door from work and ran straight to the freezer to show him his surprise. Of course, her altruism was questioned when she quickly ran to the spoon drawer and grabbed a spoon for herself to indulge.
#3 - I run on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:15am - 3 miles - with my girlfriend Bonnie. When we awoke Thursday morning it was raining. Going back to bed was BLISS.
#4 - My ROCKIN' good deals at Fry's this week. Thank you Mr. Coupon. I purchased all of this food for EIGHT DOLLARS. And two of those dollars were the bananas... so the rest of the food cost me SIX. My receipt said I saved SIXTY FOUR. Nice work Tam Bam. Sometimes coupon cutting is actually worth it's inconvenience.
#5 - Finishing "The Hunger Games" in two days... and then passing it onto Greg who also finished it in two days. I read a lot, but there are not many books that capture my attention enough to skip out on cleaning, parenting, and other such activities. This book was a little gory and gave me some WACKED out dreams, but man was it good. Greg and I are now fighting over who gets to read the sequel first. I just love a good book.
And a special thank you to all you wonderful blogging buddies who left kind, supportive words regarding our upcoming IVF procedure. It really lifted my spirits of hope and encouragement. I'll probably refer to them often. Thank you.

Round Two

In October of 2006 we walked into Dr. Zoneraich's office of Advanced Fertility Care after 3 years of frustrations with infertility. They were a fantastic team of medical professionals. We were immediately told that In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) was essentially our only option for pregnancy. After a significant chunk of change - in January of 2008, we held this little angel in our arms.

Yesterday, we walked into Advanced Fertility Care yet again. January 26th. My half birthday :) !! We have saved our pennies and nickels over the last two years and are ready to try our luck again at another baby.

When Dr. Zoneraich opened the door to the reception area, he greeted me with a BIG smile and and even BIGGER hug. I immediately knew we had made the right decision to return to his clinic. He was interested in what we had been doing the last few years and most interested in seeing and hearing about Emma. We felt like we were in the company of old friends. What a blessing, during a time of significant inner unrest.

Our first $700 of MANY was spent - and we left with a plan. If all goes well, the surgery will take place in April. The months preceding April will be filled with blood work, tests, procedures, lots of drugs, and anticipation. If IVF is successful it will be money WELL spent. If the IVF is unsuccessful, it will be money well spent TRYING.

My brain has been battling whether or not to blog about this - but in the end I feel it is worth my emotional exposure. Maybe it can help someone who is also having infertility concerns or maybe it can help educate those people who don't understand the TURMOIL that exists in others who bear the infertility trial. Ignorance can lead to some VERY insensitive comments.

Whatever the cause, you must all be aware, this may not end well. We may spend all this money, and all this time, and all this pain to end up with no pregnancy. It's the chance we are willing to take. I have faith that the Lord is watching over us and will bless us with the experiences we need for growth. My prayers are always that we will be blessed with another baby, if it be His will. Your prayers are always needed and appreciated.

If you would like more information on IVF go HERE.
If you would like more information on Advanced Fertility Care go HERE.

First Day of School

You remember those professors in college who would gather large rings of sweat under their arms visible for the whole class to see?

That was me yesterday.

It's KARMA I tell you. All those years I used to make fun of my teachers and their nasty sweat rings. What goes around, comes around, my friends.

Other than the mortifying sweat fest, my first day of school, in my new role as college teacher was PERFECT. FUN. EXCITING.

As sung by the one and only "Annie" - I think I'm gonna like it here!

Through the Still Small Voice

We had a scare last night - and one that reminded us, yet again, that the Lord is constantly watching over us. We are so grateful for this knowledge and blessing.

We put Emma to bed last night, and turned on her space heater. She doesn't do well with blankets in her crib, because she moves around so much at night, they end up off her within 30 minutes. We found a space heater that has an internal thermostat. We generally set it to 75 and then throughout the night, the heater turns off and on to adjust the room to the set temperature.

At around 7am this morning we heard Emma whimpering in her room. This is fairly common and she generally goes back to sleep within seconds. We rarely check on her when this occurs.

This time was different. Greg got out of bed with a feeling that he needed to check on her and make sure the space heater was safe. When he got to her door, she had stopped whimpering and he almost turned around to crawl back in bed. But he felt another prompting to open her door and check on her. Thank goodness he listened. When he opened the door, he was met with a burst of extremely hot air. Emma was sitting up in bed listless. He checked the space heater which indicated that the room temperature was 95 degrees! And sweet Emma was in her footed fleece PJ's!

We quickly stripped off her pajamas and gave her as much water and she could swallow. She appeared to be OK, but we were so scared at what could have happened. We then determined that earlier in the day, Emma had pressed a button on the space heater that keeps it running continuously, with no automatic shut off when the room reaches a certain temperature. So, the ENTIRE night, that space heater was blowing hot air into her room, with a CLOSED door. 95 degrees later, Greg was finally awakened with a feeling to check on his daughter.

We kept Emma in our bed for awhile waiting for her room to cool back down - and finally laid her back into her crib, when she looked up at us with her adorable little eyes and said, "I tired." She slept until I had to wake her up at 10am for church. Poor thing had probably had a very sleepless night in horribly hot and uncomfortable conditions.

I feel so blessed to have a Father in Heaven who loves me and knows my individual needs. I feel so blessed to have a husband who is acutely aware of his family needs and is always ready and willing to act on promptings.

Give your family and friends an extra squeeze today. We are all so blessed.

Scratch That.

"When one door closes, another opens." - Alexander Graham Bell

You'll have to disregard my last post, because it appears that my sabbatical leave has been cut short and I will get to teach at South Mountain Community College after all.

I got a call this afternoon from the Department Chair, informing me that a teacher had cancelled last minute and they were in desperate need of a teacher for two classes beginning next week. The class is called "Creating College Success" and is geared toward entering freshman to teach them basic study skills and effective study habits. Although it's not social work, it is still college teaching, my foot is in the door, and I am THRILLED!!

I will teach two sections of the same class. They will be in the afternoons on Tuesday and Thursday. The class is right in the middle of Emma's naps and so I'll be putting Emma down to sleep at JJ's and will pay her to keep an eye on my sleeping angel. It will work out PERFECT. I don't miss any fun play time with Emma and I still get to teach and make a little extra cash. "Asics" Running Shoes... HERE I COME!!! The first purchase I will make with my newly acquired wealth. :)

I feel so blessed and know that the Lord is looking out for me. Although seemingly small, this was important to me, and I know it is important to Him. I am so grateful.

Now I best get to cramming. I have to plan an entire course in 3 days. Talk about INeffective study habits. Nice example, huh? YIKES.

My First Sabbatical Leave

SABBATICAL
–noun
1. Also called sabbatical leave. (in a school, college, university, etc.) a year, usually every seventh, of release from normal teaching duties granted to a professor, as for study or travel.

Yea. I'm taking one of those. But, not by choice and not after SEVEN, or FIVE, or ZERO years of teaching. And the "travel part" of the definition will be to such luxurious locations as Mesa, Chandler, or maybe even Queen Creek, although I don't want to get my hopes up.

Alas, I was hired at South Mountain Community College to teach an intro to social work course, but it was for a new program and a new class. The class did not get the registration needed to carry the class. Oh wait. The class did not get ANY students to register for the class. 25 seats out of 25 seats still available. :)

The director of my program says they will begin working on marketing the classes more aggressively. I told her I would help where I could.

Teaching at a college is still something I would really love to do, but for now, I guess I'll wait until next semester and hope for the best.

Darn.

They say it's your BIRTHDAY!!

Dear Sweet Emma,

We celebrated your SECOND birthday on Monday! So cliche to say, but hard to believe two years have gone by, since we first held you in our arms. We had so much fun on your special day! On Sunday evening, our little family spent the evening making 48 cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting. We used lemon heads and licorice to make faces on each of them.

You didn't care about helping make the cupcakes or even frost the cupcakes... but you were VERY interested in helping eat the frosting. I think you got your frosting addiction from me! YUM! You stood over that frosting bowl for almost 30 minutes, eating lick after lick after lick.

We had a little gathering at Aunt Sharron's backyard in the morning with some of your ward friends. I didn't want to do anything fancy, but I knew you would have a great time playing at the fort, swinging on swings, jumping on the trampoline and eating a few cupcakes with your little buddies. Roman, David, Chloe, Claire, McKinley, Denali, Alex, Cameron, Liam, Toby and Juliette were all there to help you PARTY!

You really enjoyed opening gifts (although I told everyone NOT to bring them!)... you have such nice friends that brought you markers, stuffed bear, a little puzzle and a dolly! You really enjoyed binging on the cupcakes. You ate two of them before the party even started. I normally wouldn't let you eat that much sugar, but HEY, it was your birthday!

You slept for the afternoon while I got stuff ready for your second family party in the evening. We ran by Costco and grabbed some pizza and then drove out to Mesa to celebrate with Grammie Lou, Grandpa Ray, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jeff, Uncle Kurt, Kasyn, Taytum, Aunt Laura and her boyfriend Tim (we missed Aunt Tara because she was sick). You are so lucky to have so many people around that LOVE YOU so very much. The best part is, we can tell you love them too! You always scream their names when you see them and run to them with great big hugs. You generally prefer the men over the women, but I think it's because you love your Daddy so much!

Grammie Lou got you a cake that you devoured as quickly as the cupcakes earlier in the day! Talk about a sugar rush!

You got many more gifts from family members! As if you didn't get enough for Christmas! This birthday really sealed the deal for some MAJOR SPOILING! We just hope you are not disappointed when you don't get presents again until next Christmas! Hard to have your birthday and Christmas so close together. Sorry about that. Your Dad and I bought you a toy violin because you are always so interested in playing with mine and you always pretend like you are going to Symphony. We also bought you a little plastic chair just your size and a little tricycle so that you can learn to ride your bike like Mom and Dad. You got books, clothes and other fun electronic toys from cousins and Grandparents.

Just like Christmas, your favorite gift of all was the blessed lip gloss. You were very willing to share with everyone around... so kind.

You are such a precious addition to our home. We had no idea how much joy you could bring, but you truly light up our lives with your contagious smile, laugh and darling little voice. You are talking so much and copy almost every word we say. Don't be completely flattered though - you are not perfect. You have started to throw mini tantrums when you don't get your way. You scream "NO!" a lot for no reason at all and have begun the ever-annoying stage of whining. I have to remind you multiple times a day to use your "Big Girl Words" and to use "No Thank You" instead of screaming.

Your favorite movie right now is "Barney". I found a DVD of a live performance and you are completely and utterly enthralled with his music and the other kids singing. You have only seen the show about 5 times, but you have most of the music memorized and I will frequently hear you singing yourself to sleep with "Just Imagine" or "If all the Raindrops". You still request Christmas songs from Daddy as a lullaby, although Christmas is long gone.

Speaking of music, you sat through an entire ward choir rehearsal last Sunday and watched me lead the group very closely. A few hours later, your nursery leaders reported that you stood up in nursery and "led" the other children in a verse of "I am a Child of God" vigorously swinging both arms around. If you'd like to take over my calling as Ward Choir Director, feel free. :) We're so glad you love music and hope that you will continue to make it a part of your life. Now if we could just get you to work on your pitch a little bit... :)

You have been and probably always will be a champion sleeper. Of course, it probably helps that you have lots of "assistants". You now insist on sleeping with BOTH blankets, your dog, your puppy, your new bear, your new doll and generally a few tubes of lip gloss for the road. On your birthday evening, your silly Dad forgot to turn off your lights all the way when he put you to bed and you mistook it for play time instead of sleep time. You played happily in your bed for almost TWO hours before we realized the mistake and when we finally went in to check on you, you had applied lip gloss to your lips, your toes, your arms, your animals and your sheets. You were happy as a little clam and very proud of your art work. You crashed about 30 seconds after we turned off the lights.

We love having you as part of our little family and it appears that you love it too. Your favorite time of day is right before bed when we say family prayer and have our family hug and kiss. You help us bow our heads and fold our arms and generally sit still for the entire prayer. You bring all your animals to join in the process and insist on bringing them up to our faces for additional hugs and kisses. Although our Family Home Evening lessons are very short, you also seem to relish this time together and frequently ask for "home ebenin". It's a good thing you keep us on the straight and narrow. Heaven knows - we need it!

We just LOVE this fun stage you are in and would love to keep you bottled up at this age forever. Thank you for being the wonderful angel we prayed for. We couldn't have asked for a happier more delightful daughter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY litte princess! Here's to a wonderful third year!

We love you!
Mom and Dad

PS - Hope this doesn't make you feel bad... but I took you to the doctor yesterday and you are still in 90th percentile for height, weight and head circumference! The doc said you were the size of a 34-month-old. Way to be healthy little friend!

I Am "2" Today!

My sincerest apologies

My most sincere apologies to my dear family and friends stuck in snow storms...

My heart is full of WARM thoughts because we enjoyed 70 degrees today in Phoenix.

Sometimes the desert ain't such a bad place after all.

PS - We have a guest room that is ready any time!

2009 Christmas in Review

TOP CHRISTMAS MEMORIES FROM OUR CHRISTMAS SEASON 2009

#1 - My brother Chuck called to announce his engagement to Emily Woods!! We are so excited for them. Emily is an impressive woman and a perfect match for our Chucky. They will get married in Kentucky over Memorial Day Weekend.

#2 - Our December 22nd Christmas party with the Lorenzen Family. We ate a yummy dinner together, opened presents and made a gingerbread house and train. We love these guys and enjoyed our holiday get together.

#3 - Our December 23rd Family Dinner at my Grandparents home. My grandparents have had a traditional Christmas Dinner by candlelight for many years. This year, we gathered together the cousins that live in town and made the meal for my Grandma and Grandpa Hancock.

#4 - The family nativity acted out after the candlelight dinner by all of the younger great-grandchildren. Mary was played by the budding actress Sydney and we brought ethnic diversity to our evening with our African American baby Jesus. Greg read from Luke 2 and the kids did a wonderful job. After Emma was done throwing her tantrum about the head band to keep her towel in place, she did pretty well.

#5 - Flying to Austin, Texas on Christmas Eve to visit Jame, Gina, Anna and Isaac. Our flight was open, so Emma got her own seat and all was well in the world of flying. We were SO EXCITED to get there and could hardly contain ourselves. Gina had prepared a wonderful meal with their friends from the ward... so we started our holiday traveling with a lot of laughs and full bellies.

#6 - Setting out toys for the three children as Santa. What a magical time. I tried to keep it small for Emma because she is still so young and doesn't really understand yet. Somehow, I still had two suitcases full of gifts.

#7 - Christmas morning with the kids. Anna and Emma wore matching pajamas from Grammie Lou and were so excited to run out to the living room to see all their toys. Anna was the most amazing cousin to Emma. She was so kind and loving and attentive. Emma followed her around like a little puppy and Anna never got frustrated. She shared all of her toys and made Emma so happy.

#8 - All that time and money spent on Christmas gifts and what was Emma's favorite gift? THREE STUPID TUBES OF CHAP STICK. She ignored everything else that day. No lie. She kept those three little tubes in her grubby little paws ALL DAY and applied generously at least 550 times. It was incredulous and hilarious. Frustrating and entertaining. The other cousins played all day with their new toys and Emma wandered around them keeping her lips moist. Seriously?

(I made her some home made beans bags with Aunt Corinda.)

#9 - Our day adventure to Wimberley, Texas. Such a lovely, quaint little town close to Austin. The weather was nice and we enjoyed wandering the little shops and an amazing lunch at the "Leaning Pear". This is where Emma first learned the phrase, "Merry Christmas Ya'll" - which she screamed at the top of her lungs throughout the rest of the trip. A true Texan at heart. :)

#10 - Eating too much wonderful food and resulting in many sugar "comas". Jamie and Gina were the most wonderful hosts feeding us so much fantastic cuisine and keeping us up too late laughing too hard. We just LOVE visiting them in Texas and it made for the most marvelous Christmas!

#11 - Digging through my suitcase for my church shoes, only to realize I had packed in the dark and had one brown shoe and one black shoe. Yes folks, I still went to church and I wore the shoes just as you see in the picture. Classy for sure!

#12 - A chilly day at an Austin park with cousins. We have too much Arizona blood and thought it was a lovely idea to play at the park. Turns out Austin is not as warm as Phoenix this time of year. We had fun, but froze our little buns off.

#13 - Came home from Texas, unpacked and washed clothes. Then promptly repacked everything for a SUPER trip to Greer, Arizona with friends to celebrate the New Year. Emma's first time in Snow!! Unfortunately, she was sick and did not enjoy herself.

#14 - Building my first snowman since 1994.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday season as much as we enjoyed ours!! We had such a great time, I'm getting a little depressed thinking about taking the decorations down. It just seems so drastic to rip away all of my happy 2009 holiday memories in one day.