Brooks in 3D

For the first time in 3D, we have seen baby Brooks. He really made his daddy and momma proud! Through the entire sneak peak our little booger was moving all around! He does really like to have both hands, near his face, at all times. He sure is a cutie though! G'Ma and Grandma were able to come to this appointment and that made the occasion even more special. I love these pictures and have not stopped looking at our little baby since they were printed. Hope you enjoy them!

Here is Brooks HEALTHY heartbeat!









Here you can see a smile:)










Baby boy is trying to sleep, we just could not let that happen though!
We just love how he has those little hands curled up close!






This is actually taken right before little man started to cry. Yes, cry! It broke our hearts- and it is hard to tell here. going by the time this picture was taken, when you watch the live feed video, right at 9:30 a.m. Brooks started to cry. It was broken up though, as he suddenly got the hiccups. Baby's are truly a miracle!








By 9:43, he was WORN OUT! Headed back to sleep....








One last little peek- you can see Brooks opening his right eye in this shot!








God is so good! Brooks is our blessing that leaves us speechless every time we feel or get the chance to see him. Needless to say- March cannot get here soon enough!

just what we had always imagined

we cannot believe that brooks' room is complete, with very few exceptions. we knew that we wanted a plain and simple, sweet little boy room but just did not know how to make it happen. our good friend bethany met with me and our friend alisha and we started brainstorming. with their help (lots of), a special thanks to pinterest, a trip to canton (for all 26 alphabet letters), a stroll through fredricksberg, collecting a few of mine and trav's childhood favorites, and of course a few stops at local retailers- we had the room that we had always imagined but honestly thought we may never get the chance at!
so here it is! thank you so much bethany dufilho for all your time, craftiness, and suggestions. i love it and cannot wait to bring brooks home to his new room!

love these ideas- chalkboard closet doors and my original scuffy the tugboat little golden book that is framed!
major thanks to all the canton girls who helped me successfully collect 23 of the 26 letters all in one trip! whew, that was tough!
trav thanks for my special rocker from pier one, just cant wait to rock our little one!

unique bird from fredricksberg, just had to have this
and bethany, i love his name banner and i cannot thank you enough for all you have contributed to this super sweet room.

Footprints

One great thing about seeing a fertility specialist- we get to go to the doctor everyweek or as often as I need to in order to not be anxious about the progress of our baby. This week was our second appointment and was an amazing moment for Trav and I to share with each other.

My latest ultrasound made us think Footprints in the Sand. As we watched the screen and listened to the delicate hearbeat of OUR baby (such a significant miracle measuring the size of one single rice grain), we saw what looked like a footprint which had been carefully placed inside me. As this poem reminded us, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never, never leave you during your time of trial and suffering"...God was there to carry us through; in that room as a new family, we thanked Him.

Our baby is so tiny and yet already so perfect! We love our baby so much and are so thankful for such a loving Lord to provide such a joyful gift.

just gotta read...

most of our friends and family know that we have been fighting through infertility for close to 5 years. in fact, october will be the anniversary month of when we first started "trying" to concieve.

our plans this month are to get registered through dr roach to start the invitro-fertilization process in september. well, through this trial of ours, if there is one thing we have learned (and trust me, they are many things we have learned) it is that god operates on his timing and not ours! so before i tell you how the appointment went, here is what has been going on since our last-unsuccessful treatment.

in april, we tried our 3rd iui procedure. this involves injecting the sperm directly and hopefully making the "pregancy" be acheived easier. again...this was attempt number 3!

in may at our follow-up visit, we were bascially given the last and final option as far as medical treatment is concerned for having biological children. ivf, the most comprehensive and invasive not to mention the most expensive treatment that we had left to chose from. we did a quick calculation and realized with a 50/50 chance of this procedure being a success we had better know our "due date". with a june treatment, we were looking at a sometime in march 2012 delivery- if we were not in the landscaping business, this would be fabulous...anyhow- we made the decision to wait until august to move forward- hence the july appointment (to sign the paperwork and pay for the treatment...in full as required).

so during the remainder of may, june and july, i was completely off all meds- to take a break before starting up again in august.

so here we are july!

let me just get to the point

here is what took place on Sunday June 17 at 6 am just 3 days prior to us committing to ivf!

its for sure! our miracle baby is due 3.18.12- yep- that is right, MARCH- our most busy season of the year! all we can do is laugh..and cry about it! what a miracle!

god is so good and remains faithful, even when our faith grows weak and all hope is lost- he is unchanging.

here are some other fun pictures

the disaster on the counter sunday morning (i was 5 weeks when i took my first at home test, and since-there have beeen several to follow)

a congratulations cookie from my mother in law..some what snacked on

5-6 weeks

our first appointment!

twenty-eleven, summed up in a quick post

january

ski trip to keystone, colorado. my mom in law came with us this year, we had a great time. the weather was perfect and made for a very enjoyable ski trip!

february

the peterson family grew by one. kendall grace was born on groundhog day, feb 2nd. she is just beautiful and is growing so fast!

landon turned 9 and owen turned 3. a quick trip to new orleans was long over due to see the phillips family. the trip was well work the slide on over- the trip consisted of frozen roads & very cold temperatures, but we made it. we were actually there for landons party and the morenos made it for owens!

march

luke is now three. we enjoyed a super fun party at pump it up.

april

we completed much needed updating and redecorating at the peterson home, here are some after pictures. i love the refreshing look.

may

as a special birthday gift and answer to prayers, ella kay was walking and jabbering away by her 2nd birthday. her party was at teddy bear park and just so happened to be the same weekend that the boys were staying with us while my brother and his wife took a quick business trip to florida. we stayed so busy during their visit, it flew by,we cant wait for the next sleep over.

june

our other neice, avery ella, celebrated her 4th birthday, with pony rides and all.

my cousin katelyn is getting married, the best part- it brought her sister sara beth home from se asia. as her maid and matron of honor, we planned a girls get away to the beach in celebration of the upcoming wedding. july

our other nephew lane, turned 8.

the voyles annual family reunion for the 4th, everyone was there! jill and her bunch, andrew and his bunch, mom and mom mom even were able to make it, the whole weekend was perfect. of the total count of about 60, more than 15 of us crashed at my uncle joes house- old school style, pallets and air mattresses all over the house!

katelyn rae farris, is now a morgan. july 9th, the knot was tied. the wedding was beautiful but only 2 days later & sara beth was on a plane, back to her home. it has been so refreshing getting to spend time with her. love you sb! btw- landon was such a handsome ring bearer and zoie was a precious flower girl!next on the list...mexico! 14 days and counting!

10 for Texas

About 4 weeks ago Trav decided that he wanted to run the 10 mile race - 10 for Texas. (this is a race that he also ran in 1997) I thought this would be a great challenge for me too. I kept on with my training and the weekend before the race- I did a "trial" run of 9 miles. I felt pretty good after completing that run and so I went a head and registered for the 10 for Texas run.

Well holy cow- I did it. I ran my "fastest"- still what I consider slow- pace for a long run and came in under what my goal for this race was. I really can't believe that I ran the entire 10 mile race! Of course Trav did great and even placed in the top 50 out of about 2000 runners.

Before the Race

Trav FinishingTrav Checking His Splits

Me Finishing- with a HUGE smile on my face:)

Scott and Lane came to cheer us on- Lane ran the 1K!

New Ideas

The new fertility doctor that we met earlier this year had a very different spin on some of the reasons why we have not been able to get pregnant. Taking a 2 hour appointment down to a few lines is hard but in short- losing weight, eating healthier and just taking better care of my body- she felt would help out with several different "problems" that I am faced with.

So here we are- almost 4 months later. To date I have lost 26 pounds, gotten involved in a running program and working out 5 days a week (most of the time) and have totally changed my eating habits. This would have never been possible if I did not have such an amazing husband that made the choice to follow the same eating and exercise plan as me so that I would not feel alone. In a quick 4 months I really do feel like a whole new person. We have been able to track some positive changes in several areas but specifically in my hormones and menstrual cycles (just in the last month) so we are hopeful that this major life modification was at least a step in the right direction if not an answer to prayer...many..many...many prayers:)

We plan on continuing to stand by this new "lifestyle" and to be a healthy couple growing together with each other and in the Lord. I am not sure of God's timing with giving us a baby but in the meantime it did not hurt anything to get in shape.

Here is a picture from my first 5k that my cousin and I completed a few weeks ago. In November, our good friends Scott & Kari are going to do a 10K with us and then a 1/2 marathon

in February- yikes-! Something fun to look forward to while we are waiting!