I'm sitting here watching the red carpet to-do pre-Oscars. I love seeing all the outfits, the celebs, the hair dos....I think I'm mostly watching to catch the embarrassing moment or the slip-up that will be the talk of the town tomorrow....
But the best part about tonight, though, is flipping over to E!'s coverage and seeing Giuliana Rancic and thinking to myself...."She gets it."
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Hooray for the Today Show!
I always have The Today Show on while I'm getting ready for work (unless DH has the day off and somehow my TV ends up on "Saved by the Bell".) I get so excited when I hear them say they're getting ready to do a story on infertility. Last time I heard them say it they went into the story about the couple who got the wrong embryo and had to decide whether or not to carry the child for the biological parents. Yikes. Seriously TV people? It's bad enough millions of people suffer through infertility every day...let's throw a horror story into the mix. But then I realized they must have needed to do a story in which people could feel compassion and sorrow and empathize with the couple through those emotions....because no matter how many people suffer with infertility there are millions more who don't. They will simply never understand it; so how would they relate to a regular (is there such a thing?!) story about infertility without the shock factor.
But then this morning they aired a story about a reporter from Fox News who has been down the infertility road and now leads a support group for infertility. That's fantastic if you live near her. I'm fairly certain RESOLVE holds a few meetings near me but I haven't tapped into that resource yet as I delved into the blogging and forum world for my support. And y'all have been absolutely amazing.
During the story they gave her background info. She tried for 2 1/2 years, then conceived twin girls via IVF and a few years (months?) later conceived a son (surprise!) naturally. She has the ending most of us long for. She also told the interviewer she had tried for 6 months before ever seeking help.
It was then I realized how much I (personally) define myself by numbers. I scoffed at her 6 months because if you're young you have to wait atleast a year (which we did-with no protection or charting or BC or any real effort....but then we waited ANOTHER year in which we actually TRIED). I scoffed at her 2 1/2 years because while it seems like an eternity when you're in it....once you look back on a certain time frame you realize how short it was. Make sense? Don't get me wrong...when you CAN'T have a baby because of things your body does or doesn't do or things your husband's body does or doesn't do or things your bodies together do or don't....then everyday feels like an eternity. I'm convinced noone feels time slipping away faster than someone who's "fertiley challenged". But I'm sure most of you are just as guilty as I am on this one.....anytime someone says they've been trying for X amount of time, you instantly compare your X amount of time.
I remember when I logged into an infertility forum for the very first time. Right before our first IVF round. I needed a place where people were going through a similiar experience. And I read some woman's profile who said they were on their 3rd IVF treatment after 5 years of TTC and I remember clearly thinking "Holy S***, that poor woman...that will NEVER be me" because that naivety and hope that consumes us in those first few months had gotten the better of me. Surely we would only have to do one IVF round and surely by the end of the year we'd have our baby.
But here I sit. More than 4 years into my marriage and 3 into 'actively' trying to conceive and 4 IUI's, 1 IVF and 1 FET into it. My heart breaks for those whose 'numbers' are more than mine. I look up to those women...especially the ones who fall somewhere in between the miscarriage line and the stillborn baby line. I continue to maintain such a profound sense of thankfulness that our journey has not taken us down that road....
And for those women who's numbers are 'less' than mine, I pray they find the strength to hang in there. To keep up the fight...keep up the hope.
Numbers don't matter...the only thing they represent is a sheer determination from millions of people to bring a little tiny ball of life into this world. Besides, once the world labels you as infertile, we all feel the same things...and the only thing that keeps us moving forward is HOPE.
But then this morning they aired a story about a reporter from Fox News who has been down the infertility road and now leads a support group for infertility. That's fantastic if you live near her. I'm fairly certain RESOLVE holds a few meetings near me but I haven't tapped into that resource yet as I delved into the blogging and forum world for my support. And y'all have been absolutely amazing.
During the story they gave her background info. She tried for 2 1/2 years, then conceived twin girls via IVF and a few years (months?) later conceived a son (surprise!) naturally. She has the ending most of us long for. She also told the interviewer she had tried for 6 months before ever seeking help.
It was then I realized how much I (personally) define myself by numbers. I scoffed at her 6 months because if you're young you have to wait atleast a year (which we did-with no protection or charting or BC or any real effort....but then we waited ANOTHER year in which we actually TRIED). I scoffed at her 2 1/2 years because while it seems like an eternity when you're in it....once you look back on a certain time frame you realize how short it was. Make sense? Don't get me wrong...when you CAN'T have a baby because of things your body does or doesn't do or things your husband's body does or doesn't do or things your bodies together do or don't....then everyday feels like an eternity. I'm convinced noone feels time slipping away faster than someone who's "fertiley challenged". But I'm sure most of you are just as guilty as I am on this one.....anytime someone says they've been trying for X amount of time, you instantly compare your X amount of time.
I remember when I logged into an infertility forum for the very first time. Right before our first IVF round. I needed a place where people were going through a similiar experience. And I read some woman's profile who said they were on their 3rd IVF treatment after 5 years of TTC and I remember clearly thinking "Holy S***, that poor woman...that will NEVER be me" because that naivety and hope that consumes us in those first few months had gotten the better of me. Surely we would only have to do one IVF round and surely by the end of the year we'd have our baby.
But here I sit. More than 4 years into my marriage and 3 into 'actively' trying to conceive and 4 IUI's, 1 IVF and 1 FET into it. My heart breaks for those whose 'numbers' are more than mine. I look up to those women...especially the ones who fall somewhere in between the miscarriage line and the stillborn baby line. I continue to maintain such a profound sense of thankfulness that our journey has not taken us down that road....
And for those women who's numbers are 'less' than mine, I pray they find the strength to hang in there. To keep up the fight...keep up the hope.
Numbers don't matter...the only thing they represent is a sheer determination from millions of people to bring a little tiny ball of life into this world. Besides, once the world labels you as infertile, we all feel the same things...and the only thing that keeps us moving forward is HOPE.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Katie's Kitchen (again)
Enjoy my cake creation from today!
I saw this rose cake and decided I had to try it out. I followed her buttercream recipe exactly and I have no idea how she got her roses soooo smooth and pretty. That was the hardest icing to work with EVER. She must have made some changes to it...I will not use that icing again. For one...it's got shortening AND heavy cream in it. HELLO clogged arteries.
As per usual, I took many more pictures with my regular camera, but only 2 with my cell phone.
I actually made two cakes. One was a made from scratch white cake (which I tinted pink in honor of Valentine's Day) and the other was a chocolate cake mix from a box. I figured I should atleast have one good layer to fall back on! I included a milk chocolate layer of icing (from a tub) in between the two cake layers. I 'dirty' iced the whole cake in a white icing (from a tub) before piping on the roses from the homemade buttercream.
The second cake I delivered to our wonderful friends and their adorable one year old.
The first cake was enjoyed by my family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents and siblings) after dinner tonight.
I'll finally upload better pictures tomorrow....after I finish making my sister's wedding shower invites.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
20 followers!
Wow! 20 people follow this silly blog of mine. I know that's no where near the number of blog followers some bloggers have but considering this is just my little corner of the world, I'm happy to have anyone join me for the ride.
I've been slacking in the blogging department and for that I am feeling terribly guilty. Considering I started this as a way to document our TTC journey, I feel dumb blogging about anything else. And well...since we're not doing anything proactive in the fertility world...then this blog seems, well.....silly.
I seem to be slowly converting this into some crafty/baking blog and I know that's not what my fellow fertility blog readers care about....likewise...I know any random craft/baking blogger is not going to want read about my infertility woes.
I suppose I could do two blogs, but considering I'm already too much of an internet junkie that doesn't seem feesible.
So I guess my fellow TTC blog friends will just have to put up with my crafty ventures and hopefully stick the next year out with me until we delve back into the world of appointments and drugs and tests in the beginning of 2012.
I've been slacking in the blogging department and for that I am feeling terribly guilty. Considering I started this as a way to document our TTC journey, I feel dumb blogging about anything else. And well...since we're not doing anything proactive in the fertility world...then this blog seems, well.....silly.
I seem to be slowly converting this into some crafty/baking blog and I know that's not what my fellow fertility blog readers care about....likewise...I know any random craft/baking blogger is not going to want read about my infertility woes.
I suppose I could do two blogs, but considering I'm already too much of an internet junkie that doesn't seem feesible.
So I guess my fellow TTC blog friends will just have to put up with my crafty ventures and hopefully stick the next year out with me until we delve back into the world of appointments and drugs and tests in the beginning of 2012.
Monday, February 14, 2011
I'm still here!
......As if you really noticed I was missing...haha...
I've (we've) been slightly busy the past 2 weeks. When I last wrote, DH and I were about to get our 3rd dog. We weren't sure how the visit to the vet would go or how she would fit in with our other two pups at home, but everything has turned out to be a dream. Taffy is absolutely fabulous. She got a clean bill of health from the vet, has gotten along really well with Hollie and Max (our other 4-legged loves) and gives so much love.
Here she is on her way to the vet...with my DH for the first time.
Here she is fitting right in and enjoying her new home.
And here are Max & Hollie wondering what the heck their parents did.
The only downside to getting Taffy was missing our nephew's first birthday. We were suppose to head to WV for the weekend, but with getting the new pooch less than 24 hours before we were uncomfortable with dumping the responsibility of all 3 dogs on my family. The other downside is we've pretty much gotten the cold shoulder from DH's brother and sister-in-law. It makes me sad, but I guess it is what it is. We didn't plan the timing of the latest addition...it just happened that way and I need to let go of the guilt I have for not going. (Side note: They've never let us bring any of our dogs with us so we ALWAYS have to find a dog sitter/rely on my family when we go see them).
I also spent some time baking. I made Steelers cupcakes in addition my Steelers cake for the Superbowl.
My grandmother gave me a set of Ateco decorating tips for Christmas and I've had a fantastic time learning how to use them. I'm hoping to take a cake/cupcake decorating class in the near future. I spent this weekend baking Valentine cookies. I can remember being single for V-day and how bad it sucked. It's that whole everyone else is in a relationship but me mentality...sort of like that everyone else has a baby but me mentality that most of us are stuck in right now....I made sure to make enough cookies to send with my hubby for all of his police co-workers and for me to give to all of my co-workers....So I baked and I baked and then I baked some more. And I loved every minute. I'm one of those people who can't stand to feel lazy. My husband usually gets on my case because even when we sit down to watch TV, I'm also on the computer. I swear I constantly have to be multi-tasking. So I've kept up with my goal of baking atleast one batch of cookies per month. In March I'll definitely be tackling the wedding cake cookies for my sister's bridal shower at the end of March and MAYBE St. Patrick's Day cookies for my co-workers.
Here are the cookies I made for DH to take to work...hence the fact that they're not very Valentine-ish. I managed to get the white icing perfectly flooded which made me very happy...they turned out a heck of a lot better than the ones I made for my work. I only took a picture of those with my regular camera so those pictures will have to wait for a while. I made over 120 cookies....iced and decorated.
I promise I'll write a more meaningful post soon.
Oh yeah....welcome to the blogging world Sister!!! I love you!!
(guess that means I can't talk crap about my fam anymore ;)...j/k)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
More Four-legged love
If you've been following this blog for a while or know me in real life...you'll remember the story about Max, our lovable chihuahua I bought on a whim back in August. I thought my DH would die when I told him 1)how much I paid for him and 2) that we were actually the owners of dog #2.
On Monday night my DH was working overtime at an apartment complex located in our city's 'projects'. He called me with a a big time sob story about this poor 5 year old Cocker Spaniel. This story involves murder and robberies and the dog being in an empty apartment for days and it tugged on my heart strings as much as it did his.
We did alot of soul searching and conversing on Monday night and realized we were feeling the call to help one of God's helpless creatures. We kept coming back to the fact that the financial burden or inconvenience of having 3 dogs did not outweigh that this was the good and right decision to make.
Both DH and I were raised with Cocker Spaniels and while they can have ear issues, happy bladders or skin problems we both feel that they are a very lovable breed.
We jumped through a lot of hoops very quickly to get this dog into our home as she needed to go to the vet before entering our home. DH picks her up on Friday morning and I cannot wait to get home from work on Friday. Our other two dogs are trained to go on potty pads and they don't shed (well the Chihuahua does a little)....I'm eagerly anticipating having our first 'real' dog...one who goes to the bathroom outside, sheds and smells like a dog! My parents have a rescued Great Dane and a rescued Chesapeake Bay Retriever and they keep joking that we need just a few more small dogs until we equal their pup's size!
I'll post better pictures once we get her home with us!
On Monday night my DH was working overtime at an apartment complex located in our city's 'projects'. He called me with a a big time sob story about this poor 5 year old Cocker Spaniel. This story involves murder and robberies and the dog being in an empty apartment for days and it tugged on my heart strings as much as it did his.
We did alot of soul searching and conversing on Monday night and realized we were feeling the call to help one of God's helpless creatures. We kept coming back to the fact that the financial burden or inconvenience of having 3 dogs did not outweigh that this was the good and right decision to make.
Both DH and I were raised with Cocker Spaniels and while they can have ear issues, happy bladders or skin problems we both feel that they are a very lovable breed.
We jumped through a lot of hoops very quickly to get this dog into our home as she needed to go to the vet before entering our home. DH picks her up on Friday morning and I cannot wait to get home from work on Friday. Our other two dogs are trained to go on potty pads and they don't shed (well the Chihuahua does a little)....I'm eagerly anticipating having our first 'real' dog...one who goes to the bathroom outside, sheds and smells like a dog! My parents have a rescued Great Dane and a rescued Chesapeake Bay Retriever and they keep joking that we need just a few more small dogs until we equal their pup's size!
Meet Taffy
I'll post better pictures once we get her home with us!
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