My 100th Happy Ending

I've been fostering giant breeds for 4 years now and it has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to do something outside of punching the clock day in and day out.

Not many people get it, my family thinks I'm crazy, but helping to rehabilitate and rehome these dogs got me through some tough times- a breakup that I would I never heal from, the loss of a job, and than a few more breakups- it gave me something else to focus on. Heck, how can you focus on a boy when a dog is literally eating through a bedroom door?

Even Brian thought I was a bit crazy when we met, but Brian knew the dogs were part of the package, so he jumped in feet first. He has graciously allowed me to continue to open our door to dogs in needs, and has sacrificed a lot so I can do what I love.

Brian and I decided it is now time to take a break from fostering as we move into the next phase of our lives. In doing so, I realized that our last foster, Gracie the Great Dane, was my 100th foster, my 100th saved life!

Gracie was adopted my a wonderful family who had adopted from us in the past, and here is her success photo. In fact, this family adopted 2 Danes from us this week- Gracie & Mack!

It it great to go out on a good note!

Gracie, Michael her new dad, Susan her new mom, Chelsea & Mack

This made me laugh

You know I have the cutest nephews, right? And no, I am not biased because they really are the adorable, and hilairous, kids around!

If you need further proof, please watch this video from my sis' blog

http://ordinaryfour.blogspot.com/2009/06/christmas-in-june.html

Happy Father's Day to the Men I Love

Dad and his boys
Uncle Woo woo

Hubby

Hubby helping Jack ride his new bike

The only other man missing from today was Mike, my brother-n-law who was busy flying the friendly skies.

Gourmet Eggs

Well, that is at least what I am hoping for...

We had our egg retrieval yesterday. The results were not as great as we had hoped, we only got 7 eggs when we were expecting 12-15. I swear the hardest part of this all is adjusting and re-adjusting your expectations.

I was in a lot of pain yesterday so spent most of it in bed either napping or worrying.

We spoke with the Embryologist this morning for our first update. Of the 7 eggs, 5 were mature. She fertilized all 5 and of this morning we had 4 left. Cell division will begin today so we will have a more accurate report tomorrow morning of the exact quality. We will also learn if Saturday is the implant day.

I know I've been begging you for prayers for weeks now, and I am not about to stop now :)

A great blog to follow

My sister turned me onto this blog a few months ago and I am now a faithful follower of little Maddie and her Daddy.

Matt started the blog to track his wife's pregnancy. She delivered baby Maddie and the following day died from a brain aneurysm on her way to see her baby for the first time.

Matt's writing is hilarious, his photos are gorgeous and his honestapproach to life without his wife is inspiring. He swears, he struggles, he rants, but most of all he adores his little girl who just turned 1 yr old.

http://www.mattlogelin.com/

Our babies...

This is how our dogs spent this rainy Sunday....

Zachey

Bobbie

Sadie

Deacon & our foster, Gracie

Big Head Todd

Months ago we bought tickets to see Big Head Todd with my sister and brother-n-law at Red Rocks. While I haven't listened to this band since college, you can't really beat a concert at Red Rocks!

When we bought the tickets we had no way of knowing I would 19 days into the IVF cycle, with a raging headache and aching belly, but the show must go no! Since I can't drink right now I was the DD. I must admit, it certainly was not as fun without the beer!

We had a good time, the night was beautiful.

Feeling your love...

This last week of our IVF cycle has been tough-it has been a literal rollercoaster of emotions from pure excitement to bottom of the bucket of dispair. My body has not really been cooperating and there has been some concern that this might not be the right drug protocol to get the results we need. We've been struggling with this latest news since Wednesday, and trying to not worry about it is like trying to tell someone not to breathe.

But what I have been reminded of this week is how loved I am. I have always known I have great friends and a wonderful family, but this week I have literally felt the love. Each email, card, text and voicemail has meant so much to me. I don't think I've ever had so many prayers said on my behalf. For this I am truly, truly grateful.

I hope each of you who is reading this understands how much you mean to me and how thankful I am for you in my life. It is hard for me to cry and show my weaknesses to others so I appreciate the comfort you've given me when I have.

Brian and I are still cautiously optimistic we might be able to pull off this IVF cycle and proceed to egg retrieval. We have another ultrasound on Sunday, and we will know more than.

Hitting the wall

I think I have officially hit the IVF wall! Day 16 of shots and I am really feeling it.

Headaches and insomnia are in full affect. We are also in the final stretch of shots, and while I have lots of follicles, they are not growing as quickly as they would like so they increased my meds yesterday. Today I am really feeling a full and heavy belly.

I have another appt tomorrow for a another ultrasound and I pray, pray, pray they are seeing the progress they have hoped for. Otherwise, the RN made mention of maybe needing to order more meds, which about made me cry.

Each day seems like an eternity at this point.

This all said, I am happy to do it all if we end up with a Baby Dew ( or two!)