Monday, November 29, 2010

Trimming the Tree


With Harry for the Holidays (one of my favorite Christmas cds) playing in the background, the girls and I decorated the Christmas tree. They both were VERY excited when they saw the tree and loved decorating the house! It's my favorite time of year and I love sharing the excitement and joy with my family.









Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving With the Olivers


This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jason's family. We had a wonderful day cooking (Addison made the green bean casserole!!), watching football and visiting with all of the family. We are very thankful and blessed to have such a great family.




We are growing Ashley's bangs out.



Addison then became the photographer and took pictures of everyone...
Grammy and Mommy
Pepaw
Uncle Joe
Grandmother
Ben and Aunt Brenda
Dalton
Stacy
Aunt Beth
Delaney

The rest of the Oliver family had already left so no pics of them.
Maybe next family get together!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Friday, November 12, 2010

Our Life on TV


I do not watch a lot of reality TV shows but I do watch a few and one of my favorites is Giuliana & Bill on the Style Network. If you are not a fan of the show, G&B are going through IVF treatments this season. As I have watched these past couple of weeks I have been flooded with memories and emotions regarding our infertility process. It was 7 years ago that we started trying to get pregnant without success. I remember feeling so overwhelmed in the beginning seeing all of the different doctors who could not explain why we could not get pregnant. After months of unsuccessfully trying we finally made the decision to try In Vitro Fertilization. IVF was our faith, hope and miracle all rolled into one. Looking back we were so hopeful…and so naive at that time. IVF was probably the best and worst time of mine and our lives.

It was the best time because Jason and I became so close during that time. We had each other and our faith to get us through and hopefully conceive. I am so thankful for Jason during that time. He gave me my shots (4 daily) and put up with me and the HORRIBLE emotional roller coaster I was on. He held me every breakdown I had and made me feel that no matter what the outcome was, he always loved me and it would be fine even if it was just me and him forever. He is my rock, best friend and biggest supporter. I love him more than words (cue song)…

It was the worst time as well. IVF is not easy, physically and emotionally. By the time we reached IVF I had been on infertility drugs for over a year. Emotionally I was a wreck. I had been on drugs to produce lots and lots of eggs and then put into menopause several times which meant my hormones were everywhere. Think of your worst day of PMS and multiply it times 100. I also felt completely alone during this time. While friends tried to relate they simply could not. It was extremely hard not having anyone to talk too. Most if not all of our friends during that time could look at each other and get pregnant. I never had sad feelings or jealousy about friends getting pregnant (babies are pure JOY) mainly I just didn’t understand what we were doing wrong. I feel like my birthright as a woman to have a child was taken away from me without any asking. My Cinderella story was not having a happy ending. No one ever tells you as a young woman; by the way you may not be able to have kids. I was personally devastated and it took me several months to come to peace with that and a really great husband to support me.

Physically the shots were the worst; simply for the fact that after weeks there was no place I was sore. Rotating 4 shots daily between hips, arms, stomach and butt is simply not cool. And the fact I was having blood drawn every couple of days did not help matters.

I will never forget the day I found out I was not pregnant after our IVF treatment. We were so sure that we were pregnant. I was only 26 at the time and had “perfect textbook” embryos implanted inside of me. My doctor was confident and was so excited to see me on blood draw day to see if I was pregnant. I can tell you exactly what I was wearing that day and emotionally I was beaming with excitement inside. I remember they took my blood and asked me if I felt pregnant. My answer was I don’t know and I didn’t feel any different after all it had only been 7 days since the embryos were implanted. That should have been my first clue…I went to school that morning placing my cell phone on my desk waiting for the phone call from the doctor. I waited and waited…nothing. Then I remember seeing Jason walk up the ramp to my portable and I knew. My heart sank and I just cried. The ladies at school were great. They immediately took my kids and we went straight to the doctor’s office. No explanation, no answers, no baby.

There has never been an explanation of why we cannot get pregnant. We are both healthy but it was not meant to be for us. Do I feel like I missed out on something? Yes and No. Yes I would love to have felt a baby inside of me. I am thankful for my best friend and her letting me have my hands on her stomach all the time when she was pregnant. I got to experience some of it through her.

No I do not feel like I am missing something for these reasons:




God had a plan all along that I was supposed to be their mom. And I am thankful for His plan.
“For this child I prayed; and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of him.”
1 Samuel 1:27

I applaud Giuliana & Bill for going through this process on TV and bringing infertility into the media. They have helped take the stigma away and bring awareness for a lot of woman.



Sunday, November 7, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

100th post!


Hello readers! Well, I confess I never thought I’d ever be writing this kind of entry. A hundred was a number that I personally didn’t think I could reach by myself, and here we are. It’s been less than a year since All Of The Olivers started and from that moment on, I’ve tried to write and keep on doing it because of you. Your comments are a so sweet and wonderful. So that’s why this post is dedicated to you, because thanks to you, All Of The Olivers has managed to have 100 wonderful posts! Let’s celebrate!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Perserverance


Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

We have had many, many pebbles in our path lately. Trying to persevere with a smile...

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Romans 12:12

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

We did our annual "trick or treating" with the Evans family this year. Addison was a dragon. Ashley was a cat. Reed was the Queen of Hearts. Ruby Shayne was a ladybug and Holly and I were the "Shake Weight girls". Unfortunately since it was so hot outside, Ashley did not get to wear her monkey costume and ended up wearing Addison's cat costume from last year. We had a wonderful time walking with the Evans, the Wozniak's and the Moon family. We actually got to trick or treat until the kids got tired which was so nice. I am so glad Addison was not scared and had a so much fun! Happy Halloween!!!