Noah's fro

Jer and I laughed so hard at this pic! I had just got Noah out of the bath and put his lotion in his hair and thought I'd see how high I could get his curls to stand up. :) Not sure when he'll need a haircut, but it could possibly be soon!

Birthday Boy!

Today is my sweet husband's 36th birthday! We went to church, then drove to our favorite restaurant, Little Italy, then took a nap, and are now playing Mario Kart wifi. Great day!

Happy birthday baby! Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and daddy!

And here is Noah Bear's cutie Valentines shirt my good friend Holli made him! I love it and he got so many compliments on it today! Thanks Holli!

Our Journey Complete........

So blogging and I are not buds-obviously. I love to read blogs, but just don't feel motivated to write on mine. My husband is doing some work at a recording studio--we are 3 hours from home and I am sitting in a hotel room all day and thought it would be a good time to update on our journey to be parents. I think the only people that might actually see this post are my friends that know our story anyway, but for the 1 or 2 that might not, here ya go:

Meet our son, Noah Samuel:

After 12 years of marriage and 6 years of drugs, surgeries, and treatments, we are finally parents. Our fertility clinic in Dallas wanted us to try IVF a 2nd time, but Jer and I just didn't feel peace about it and even though insurance would actually pay for the 2nd round, our hearts couldn't take another defeat. So we began pursuing adoption through Crisis Pregnancy Outreach in Tulsa (where my friend Krysta adopted from). But God still had other plans--at the end of September 2010, my friend Margo contacted me about a birthmom in Little Rock at a Christian women's home who was 31 weeks pregnant. We contacted the director and within days the birthmom picked us to parent her child. We met her a week later and fell in love.

We began going to C's doctor's appts and just building a relationship with her. I call her my little sister. She is the most precious woman and gave us a gift beyond any other! Our little Noah Bear was born November 23, 2010. We were in the delivery room and watched his arrival and I cut the cord. It was a day I will never forget.

Jer and I spent the next 24 hours after his birth with C and had a great time. She was so thankful to give us Noah and just wanted us to be happy. I cannot describe to you C's sacrificial heart.

There is so much more to the story, but like I said, most of you reading this have heard me tell it many times! If you want more details, I'd love to give them! Noah is our miracle and we are forever thankful and humbled.

Noah means "comfort; peace; rest" and Samuel means "for this child I prayed". Both of these names are so appropriate for our son. He has brought peace to a very stressful and depressing infertility journey. We know now why we experienced a chemical pregnancy, why we never conceived naturally, why we didn't adopt through CPO----this baby was the one to complete our family! I would always talk about not wanting to be different from other couples/families, but obviously God had very different plans for our life! We call Noah Bear our little Hershey Kiss! And he is PERFECT!!!! He is so happy, loves everyone, and started sleeping through the night the night I had to go back to school after my 9 week maternity leave. :) He sleeps around 11-12 hours a night! Yay!

Here are more pics. I'm not sure if I'll post again for 10 more months--we'll see!

3 month picture recap

Time for a little 3 month picture catch up of what's been going on in our life. Hopefully I won't bore you! :)

In January we celebrated our 11 year anniversary! Wow! Here we are at Mount Magazine State Park---we love to go there. It is the highest peak in Arkansas and so beautiful!
My hub was being silly--he doesn't like the camera!





On January 22 our 5th niece was born to Jer's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer. Eleanor Anne (Ellie). She is so beautiful and such a good baby!



We got lots of snow this winter season! Oliver still had to have his frisbee time with Daddy every day!




My husband has spent lots of time here: His new studio...this used to be our garage. It was finished in December and we are very proud of it.




In February I met up with Krysta and Kaden! He is such a sweetheart and I'm hoping I'll get to spend more time with them this summer!




At the end of February Kristy, Kim, and myself held a surprise baby diaper sprinkle at school in the music room for my good friend Holli...she didn't know what she was having so we had a pink table and a blue table and had everyone dress up (yes, we copied this off of all those gender reveal parties!!!) It was lots of fun and Holli had a sweet baby boy in March named Madox. He is beautiful and his 2 big brothers are so proud!




Polka Dot Party Bunco was at my house in March! Even Holli came with Madox, who was 6 days old!



Last Sunday we entered Oliver in Bark 4 Life, a dog show to raise money for the American Cancer Society. There were 17 dogs there and Oliver wanted to meet everyone! He was quite the handful!




BUT, he is such a charmer, and ended up winning 4 ribbons! 1st place for Friendliest, 2nd place for Cutest, 2nd place for Best Trick, and 3rd place for Best Retriever. We were SO PROUD!!! Jeremiah said to me on the way home, "This must be what it feels like to parents when their child does something good!"




Hopefully one of my next pictures will be of one of my best friends from college, Kara, and her new baby Sarah Corine. Kara is in labor RIGHT NOW and I'm so excited! This is their 1st child!

That's it! Happy Easter everyone! I'm so thankful for Jesus dying for ME and for YOU and for His unending love. I know I don't deserve it, but He accepts me and loves me just as I am. I pray my life is a reflection of His love and compassion.

I'm Baaaccckkk.............for 1 post at least!

Well, as you already know, I stink at blogging! I enjoy doing it, but can't seem to find the time and when I do have time, feel like my little life is so boring! I've started a post a couple times in the past 3 months, but then thought, "why does anyone want to read about this?" and canceled it. I do still read blogs every day on google reader at school!

Nothing is different in my life. No pregnancy, new job, new car, etc. Most days I'm totally fine with that, and then other days I'm as depressed as can be. To be perfectly honest, somedays reading blogs really depresses me. My husband and I have discussed it and he has asked me to stop reading so many infertility blogs as most of the women eventually get pregnant and then it reminds me once again that I am not and then I question what we've done wrong. Please don't misunderstand, those of you reading this who are pregnant or have children, that is awesome and God has truly blessed you! He has blessed me too, but not with a child yet and I still grieve about that. And somedays reading blogs makes me question if we aren't pursuing hard enough or praying hard enough, because other women achieve pregnancy, and we don't. We have not done IVF again and are not going to at this point--we believe that God is going to bless us another way and we are excited about that, but I still grieve for not carrying a child in my womb.

I started this blog to be an outlet for my struggles with infertility, but you know, when I talk about it and think about it too much, the depression is overwhelming. You that are still walking this rough road know exactly what I'm talking about. So......now you know one of the main reasons I don't blog much....I don't wanna depress myself or my few readers! With that said, here is what makes us happy right now!

Our baby Oliver! What a joy this little guy is!

And now for something else that makes me happy--dinner with Kristy and her Jeremiah and my Jeremiah!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM JEREMIAH, SUSAN, & OLIVER

My great friend Kristy took these for us for our Christmas cards---I guess I should have participated in the Christmas Card Carousel posts that happened last week, but I'm a little behind! Trying to get a very excited Boston Terrier to pose was NOT easy! But Kristy was very patient--unlike Mommy here!

Hallelujah!!!!!!!

No school for 17 days! Whoop whoop!!!!!!!!!

Check...check...check...

My list for the month of December has been a mile long it seems, but I think we are winding things down now (well, sort of).........

1. Elementary Christmas musical-CHECK

2. McPherson Christmas Ball--biggest party of the season-CHECK

3. High school band/choir concert-CHECK

4. "Imagine Christmas" play--4 performances-CHECK

5. High school choir/band Christmas parties-CHECK

6. Christmas shopping completed-CHECK

7. Christmas gifts wrapped and under the tree-CHECK

8. Home remodel--turn garage into room/recording studio for hubby-CHECK AS OF THIS WEDNESDAY

All of this=1 tired chicky!

What's left?

1. Ornament party tonight

2. Best friend's daughters' select choir performance tonight after ornament party

3. Spare bedroom remodel

4. Christmas parties Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday

5. Meeting Krysta and Kaden in Fort Smith next Wednesday

6. Mother-in-law's birthday brunch on Christmas Eve

7. Christmas!!!!

8. Our band, Muzzleloader playing at a 3 day youth rally

9. Our 11-year anniversary

First party of the season....

Last night was the annual McPherson Christmas Ball. Our close friends throw a huge party the first Friday night of December. This was our 4th year to attend the ball. Lots of friends attend...I think they counted around 80 last night. Wow! Here is us with the McPherson's:

Jeremy & Mika:

Jer's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer (and Ellie--niece #5 for us will be making her debut in January 2010!)

Just relaxin':

A great time was had by all--lots of great food, great friends, great dancing, and lots of laughs!

I have a cold today--I've been sneezing a lot the past couple days and it hit me hard today. Yuck. Maybe it will be over with by Monday--I have my high school concert Tuesday night, and then the community/church Christmas program Friday-Sunday.

Oh, and one more thing--last Sunday Kristy took our Christmas card pics...go here to check them out! Trying to get a 9 month old Boston Terrier to cooperate was not easy! Thanks Kristy! You're awesome!

I'm thankful....

I have realized through this season of my life, I haven't been too thankful. I struggle with complaining and being negative sometimes--in a lot of areas, not just my infertility. Reading all your posts about thankfulness has really helped open my eyes. I am so blessed and want that to be my focus! My sis-in-law, Jennifer, has a sign in her house that says, "Want What You Have". I love that. It is so true.

So here is my thankful list (a day late--sorry, I was too busy stuffing my mouth yesterday!):

1. My Lord and Savior who loves me day in and day out--no matter my mood!
2. My sweet husband who loves me unconditionally and who makes me laugh.
3. Our baby for the time being---Oliver the Boston Terrier. He is the best snuggler!
4. Our family--we are all such good friends and I love spending time with them.
5. Our sweet nieces and nephews who have an abundance of hugs and kisses for us.
6. Our jobs---Jeremiah and I both enjoy going to our jobs every day and that is so important! I have 7 performances coming up in the next two weeks between my school and the community Christmas play! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but I choose to be thankful!
7. Our new room addition--it's almost done!
8. Our future child.
9. My teacher friends at school, Kristy, Kim, and Holli-you make the day fun! (It's almost Bunco time again ladies!)
10. My very close friend Krysta--you are such a blessing to me!
11. A 5 day weekend! Yay for sleeping in!
12. A new season in 2010!

My hubby and I went to see "New Moon"....great movie! All the girls squealing everytime they saw Edward or Jacob was funny at first, then started to get on my nerves!!!!!!! This one lady in front of us kept squealing and making very loud comments at really quiet parts of the movie. Oh brother! My husband liked the movie so much he went and bought the soundtrack!

Time to go to my mother-in-laws and eat some leftovers! Yum!

Birthday Recap

Wednesday was my 31st birthday and an overall great day! I awoke to a super sweet card hidden in my purse from my hubby. I had my big Veteran's Program that day at school. It went well and my choir led the audience in singing "Happy Birthday" to me--it was a surprise and I turned very red! A couple of my elementary students mom's had gifts for me at school, which was very special! And tonight I got some of the best coffee in the world, Gloria Jean's Caramel Nut, in the mail from Krysta! Whoo hoo!


I got my hair done after school on Wednesday--I was going for dark brown, my natural color, but it looks almost black to me. It's ok though--hopefully it will lighten up. I like it. My superintendent asked me today if I was going goth! ha ha!




Wednesday evening we ate out for my birthday with Jer's family and had a great time--it's always a little wild with 6 kiddos!


Tonight my friend Jennifer is having a birthday dinner for me and Mika. Looking forward to some yum food!


Our house remodel begins Monday AND I'm out of school for deer season! That's a national holiday in these parts!


Big garage sale with my sis in law Jennifer tomorrow!


Enjoy your weekend!

Birthday weekend

This weekend Jeremiah and I celebrated my 31st birthday! (Holy cow--I can't believe I'm that old--where did my 20's go?) My birthday is not until this Wednesday, Veteran's Day, but we celebrated early!

We spent yesterday shopping in Hot Springs, then watching tons of college football in the hotel room. Go Hogs! We bought Oliver a Razorback collar in honor of their win yesterday! He can't have it until Christmas though!

Last night we ate at The Butcher Shop in Little Rock, then went to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to hear Beethoven's 5th. It was wonderful! We both enjoyed it thoroughly! We hadn't been to the symphony since I was in college and Jer came to hear me sing in Beethoven's 9th.

I got to pick out my presents while shopping yesterday--I got a new Houndstooth Razorback shirt (thanks for getting me hooked on those Kara), a sweater from American Eagle (my favorite store), and this:

We have needed a new comforter for a while--Oliver accidentally tore a hole in our old one with his nails. And speakin of him--there's his hind end in the picture--just now noticed that! Ha ha! Anyways, I found this comforter at JcPenney online, but you can never tell about colors online, so I went to the store and although I had picked out 3 more, I ended up going with my first choice. I was worried about it looking a little "granny-ish". What do you think? Honestly. The problem is I needed a comforter that would go with my olive green walls cuz I DON'T want to paint again. I didn't like it when I first put it on today, but once I got new pillows and curtains, I think it is growing on me! My favorite color is red, so I think it will work!

I have a big Veteran's Day program on Wednesday at school---pretty much all my groups perform--high school band, choir, and then every elementary grade does a song. It will be an exhausting day! As long as I don't think of my age, I should make it without passing out!

Gotta go--Christmas musical choir practice! I'm in charge and it's at our house, so I best be getting ready!

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Halloween!

Oliver dressed up like a cow for Halloween---we had friends kids trick-or-treat last night. I ordered Oliver a medium costume and it is so tight on him that he couldn't move and Daddy made me take it off. :( I can't believe I got the wrong size. Oh well. As you can tell by the look on his face, he is not liking Mommy playing dress-up!



So happy I don't have a choir competition this Saturday. I had one last Saturday and I had 5 junior high students make All-Region. Now I get a few Saturdays to myself! I was so excited to get to sleep in and wouldn't you know it, we were up at 7:45 today! Dang! I've already got my car lubed at Wal-Mart and in a little while we are taking our nieces, Sophie and Gracie, to a new hot dog restaurant in town that has a big play area and kid games. Fun! We haven't got to spend time with them in too long! Sophie told her daddy the other day that she was missing Aunt Suzy and Muncle Baby (what she calls Jer). Such a sweetheart!

So thankful for the sunshine! All that rain was so depressing!

Christmas is on the brain! I've started buying things and stocking up! I am trying to cut back a little this year---not sure if my husband will cooperate with that though! I ordered Oliver 3 gifts for Christmas the other day and told my husband they were for Christmas. Well, they came in and Jer gave two of them to him--he couldn't stand waiting! He said we'd buy him more! So much for cutting back! Ha!

The addition on our house begins in 2 weeks! I'm so looking forward to it! We are turning our garage into a recording studio. Yay--all Jer's gear can get out of my house! He has guitar/recording gear in EVERY room in the house except my bathroom! Seriously--even kitchen and bathroom cabinets! It's crazy! Now we'll have our spare bedroom back and hopefully put a baby in there in the future! That's the plan at least!

Jer and I are going to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra next weekend for my birthday! I can't wait!

Happy Halloween!

Night out!

Last night we went to Hot Springs with some of our closest friends to celebrate Jeremy and Mika's 10th Anniversary. We ate at Belle Arti Italian Restaurant and then went dancing at the Arlington Hotel. It was lots of fun.

Here is the anniversary couple:

Jerod and Jennifer:

Nevada and Jewelie:

Jer and I (don't know why his face was so red):

When we left we saw the biggest pumpkin ever and the girls and Jeremy had to pose with it:

Yesterday Jeremy and Mika left for Hot Springs early, so I got to take their son, Gaven to his soccer game. He did so good! I love all our friend's kids so much. Jeremy and Mika have 2 little girls also. Gaven was adopted when he was almost 3 and fits in with their family perfectly!

Proud!

I left on a bus at 5:00 a.m. with 10 senior high students yesterday. We went to All-Region Choir Auditions. I am so excited to report that 9 out of my 10 students made the choir! Around 600 students auditioned from schools of all sizes. My school is one of the smallest that compete and my students hung in there and did just as well as the big schools! I am so proud! In the 9 years I've been teaching, I've never had that many make it (last year I had 7 plus an alternate who moved up). My one student that didn't make it is an alternate, so hopefully she'll get to be in the choir anyway, which would make it 10 out of 10! We got home at 9:00 p.m. last night! Long day, but definitely worth it!

Icky, achy, yucky

So when I was typing my last post I didn't feel good, but thought it was just allergies. Nope--Wednesday evening I just started feeling worse and worse and aching in spots I didn't know could ache. Went to the walk-in med clinic Thursday morning barely holding my head up. I didn't even mind them sticking that flu stick up my nose. I had every sign of the flu (even fever which I NEVER run), but my test was negative. The dr came in with a face mask on and didn't get near me and Germ-X'd her hands twice in about 3 minutes. She said she was almost positive I had the flu and thinks I caught it so early it didn't register on the flu test. Got Tami-flu at the pharmacy and went to bed. Tamiflu did not agree with me and made me dry heave for about 3 hours, but once I finally got to sleep, it kicked in and I slowly started feeling better. I still feel worn out and yucky, but it is functionable. My husband is taking Tamiflu now because he doesn't want to get sick--he had the flu last year and I slept on the couch 7 nights! Not fun! He tried to sleep on the couch Wednesday night, but gave in and came to bed! :)

Funny story from the clinic Thursday morn---my (step)father-in-law came in to the clinic with chest congestion while I was sitting there. He is such a cheerful, talkative man and he comes in smiling and talking and all of us sicky people are just staring at him. Mom had told him I was there with the flu. (When I got there that morning, a student I teach was there with her mom. I walked in the door and the mother says to her daughter, "Don't let her breathe on you". uh...thanks...wasn't planning on it. I probably GOT this sickness at SCHOOL anyway!) So I sat down in a single chair away from everyone else knowing that I might be contagious. After Papa checks in, he says real loud, "I'm just gonna pull a chair up and sit next to my daughter!!!" He sits right up next to me and I can't help but giggle a little. He is just like a big teddy bear and wanted to take care of me! By the time he was done talking to me, everyone in the waiting room knew what I had, what he had, that I was his daughter-in-law, and that he loved me! So sweet.

Hoping I'll be able to sing/play tomorrow night with our band. I'm skipping practice tonight.

My dog and my husband's car have contributed to the icky/yucky this week too. Oliver got neutered and had his hernia sewn up over a week ago. Some of the hernia started tearing open this week and he was bleeding, etc. He had to get a shot at the vet and is on antibiotics once again! I swear it is never-ending with that dog! Then my husband's Camry is undriveable--not sure what is wrong--his dad is working on it. It was the first car we bought and has been in our family 10 years! It has 270,000 miles on it. I feel like it is on its last leg, but I don't want a car payment! There are other things a lot more important to pay/save for! We are wanting to add on to our house very soon and a car payment would prevent that i think! Yikes!

Cool thing happened at school Wednesday--Wal-Mart managers/associates visited with a big cake and prizes to do a "Teacher Appreciation" assembly. They drew 10 teachers names and I was one of them---I won a $100 Wal-Mart gift card! Whoo hoo!

Hope you all have a sick-free weekend!

AND......Go Hogs! Beat Texas A & M!

Bunco

Bunco was at my house Monday night and boy was it fun! We hadn't played since June so we were long overdue! Here are some pics!

This is our group (we had 2 missing):

These were the winners for the evening (go Brin--she was kissing her scarecrow):

Here are us teacher buds (Kim, me, Kristy, Holli):

And me--I rolled 4, yes, my favorite number---4 Buncos! I was so proud--I didn't win, but didn't care. I'm just proud of my 4! hee hee!

Gotta go. I'm ready for bed. I'm exhausted and my voice is almost gone--being a music teacher is wonderful, but wears on my voice so much--and our band has a gig on Saturday so I NEED my voice! Gonna get in the clean sheets, curl up with my sick puppy (that's for a later post), my hubby, and Prison Break, Season 2.

Let the sun shine!

Praise the Lord for the sunshine! I have missed it greatly this week! My car just got a nice bath and looks so much better! Now if I could just get our lawn guy to come....I can barely find Oliver in the grass!

Rock the River was good last weekend. I didn't feel good at all, but we had a good time. Our band plays this week at the youth-wide "Saw You At The Pole" Rally. It is the evening of See You At The Pole (duh).

This next weekend starts the month of Saturday choir competitions. My next 3 out of 5 Saturdays are booked with taking kids to all-region competitions. I love to see my students compete and do well, but it just wears me out. I think I'm ready to just teach all elementary music or all high school choir, but not both. After doing it for 9 years, I'm tired!!!!!!!! And OLD!!!

Bunco is next week at my house! Pictures to come!

Not much else exciting going on here....just taking it one day at a time. Sorry for the boring blog updates. Can't think of much else to write about. Time for a nap!

Why does this always happen?

We leave in 2 hours for Rock the River in Fort Smith. Our band, Muzzleloader, plays at 3:30 today. I've been looking forward to this for months and we've practiced a lot this past week. BUT, I am sick. I've been sneezing a lot, but it hadn't turned in to anything. It hit about halftime of the junior high football game we were at on Thursday night. We left the game and I went home and sacked out. Yesterday I felt horrible all day at school. I took Aleve Cold & Sinus, Zyrtec, ZiCam allergy nose spray, drank Vitamin C immunity builder stuff, and took ZiCam tablets. Woke up this morning to a sneeze that I thought would blow my face off. I've never seen so much snot!!!!!!!! (yes, graphic---sorry)

Anytime in the fall when I have something important on the calendar, I get sick. Two years ago our band was playing at a 4 day rally and I got strep throat and could only sing the last night. Last year I got a massive sinus infection right before a huge day-long choir competition I had to take students to. This year we have this concert today and I am sick. Thankfully I only have to play keys---I do sing on one song, but I think I can make it. This REALLY frustrates me, but I don't know how to fix it!!!!!!! If you read this, would you say a prayer for me today about this? I would really appreciate it.

In other news, my dog did this to our carpet this week:

My husband has been feeling bad leaving Oliver in his cage when he goes to work during the day so he bought a $100 iron dog gate that he bolted to the frame between the kitchen and living room. Then on the other side of the kitchen we put up a baby gate. This picture is of the carpet in the hallway---the baby gate was right past this spot. Oliver was left alone for 1 hour and accomplished this. I was so frustrated when I got home. I've been wanting new carpet, but don't have the money for it now! (the current carpet is 5 years old)

So now we have a dog who obviously HAS to stay in his cage when we're gone, a $100 gate that is of no use to us now, and a torn up carpet. And Bunco is at my house in 2 weeks. Guess I'll be investing in a nice little rug to go there. (sigh)

Gotta go get ready! At least I'll get my Peppermint Mocha from Starbuck's when we get to Ft. Smith! Maybe that'll help me feel better.

Have a great weekend!

Story of the week

I've got another cute kindergarten story---they really say the funniest things that just make me laugh! There is a hispanic girl in one of the classes who speaks NO English! NONE! I've been trying to speak Spanish to her a little (I remember some from high school), but she is really shy. In music class she just sits and stares--no participation whatsoever. So this week I remembered I have a song that says the months of the year in Spanish and I told the class we were going to sing a song for her so she could participate. This cute little boy says so seriously, "I can't do Spanish. I'm not Spanish. I'm country folk." I cracked up!

Oliver went back to the vet this week. He has another bacterial infection--this time in his ears. That makes the 3rd bacterial infection in 4 months. He is on 2 antibiotics once again. The vet said he has a very weak immune system. So what the heck am I supposed to do about that? I'm wondering if my hubby and I are just being too overprotective and thinking he is more human than dog. We don't want him to be sick though. AAHHH!!!!

Tomorrow for 30 minutes at school we are having DEAR--Drop Everything And Read. I'm kinda excited about this. The high school kids are reading like crazy right now and so we are going to have DEAR a couple times a week, but the teachers have to participate too. I am going to try to get going in "The Shack". This book really helped my husband after our chemical pregnancy last year, but I am worried my emotions will get out of hand at school. Hopefully not.

My husband and the lead singer of our band are going to be on Spirit FM 106.3 out of Fort Smith tomorrow morning at 8:05. They are going to talk about our band, Muzzleloader, and hopefully play a song or two off our album. A lot of the bands are going to be on live tomorrow since Rock the River is next week. Very exciting!

Three day weekend coming up! Hallelujah!