a christmas miracle!

ok, so i don't even know where to start with this. so....how about this:


ummmmmm......yeah.

so back when i was writing my goals for the year and talking about how the hubby and i hadn't achieved the goal of conceiving in 2006, well i was lying. unknowingly of course. it turns out i was pregnant, i just didn't know it yet!! and in 2006 even....a few days before christmas.

seeing as how we have had major problems conceiving in the past, i don't even bother telling the hubby when i'm going to be testing anymore. it saves me the trouble of having to tell him about the negative test results which just make me more sad in the long run. so, when i took the above test and that little "pregnant" message came up, i nearly had a heart attack! i've never had a positive home pregnancy test before so i didn't know what it felt like to see that positive message. (with ivf, you're not supposed to take home pregnancy tests because you can get false results from all the drugs your're on)

so, i am running around the house wondering how i'm going to tell the hubby since he doesn't even know i'm taking the test and i don't really just want to call him at work and be like: "we're pregnant", so i took this picture and sent him an e-mail. i called him up and made sure i was on the phone while he opened the attachment. here's how the conversation went down:

hubby: "what's this?" (hahaha! that's how not used to this we are in this household!!)

me: "what does it look like?"

hubby: "how is this possible?"

me: "well, you see, we had sex."

hubby: "but....but."

and it went on and on like that for about 5 minutes. both of us in total and complete shock that we had sex and it actually worked! not something we're used to happening around here.

so i called my dr. and went in for two separate rounds of pregnancy tests to make sure my levels were rising. after a week of torturous waiting, we got the news that it was in fact a true pregnancy. for the last few weeks we've been talking about it, but at the same time being a little skeptical about it. after all, how could this have possibly worked?

yesterday i went in for my first ultrasound. the dr. said everything looked really good and healthy, so if we wanted to share the news, she felt comfortable saying "go ahead". so here i am....and here are some pictures:

(really sorry about the horrible quality. not sure why the scan is so bad)




i guess there's not much left to say!

thanks!

thanks to everyone for your suggestions on our "bodert" situation.....however, i'm on to bigger and better posts! check back in a few minutes!

bodert

as many of you who are parents already know, there are many words that you child comes up with...many of which you have no idea what they're talking about.

for months now, the little dude has been saying "bodert" (short "o" as in box). we have NO earthly idea what it means. he says it very randomly...never the same situation twice. we've asked him a million times what he's saying and all we get in return is more "bodert".

so, any of you genius baby translators out there want to give this one a shot? help a mama out!

first day of "school"

the little dude all decked out waiting for "school" to start. it's all i heard about all morning before we left. he was so excited.

today was our first day of "school". toddler art time at the john michael kohler arts center. it was amazing and so much fun. the class is for 2 and 3 year olds, along with a parent. the class lasts 6 weeks and will be focusing on the theme of "snow". . . . an appropriate topic considering we just got 3 inches yesterday. today we painted pinecones to look like they had snow on them, painted a picture with black paint on white paper (black, to represent tracks in white snow), started a "snowscape" which we will work on for the next 6 weeks, and strung beads on pipecleaners. at the end of class, the teacher read a book about snow.

i think it was as much fun for me as it was for the little dude. it's also nice for me because i don't have to get out, or clean up any of the mess! we go for an hour, make a mess, and leave! that's my kind of class!

the arts center also offers preschool for children starting at 3 years old. we're definitely planning on sending the little dude as soon as we can. it's such a great place.

big boooyyyyy bed

today we switched the little dude's crib into a "big boy bed". this basically means that we took one of the sides off and lowered it to it's lowest setting. this also means that he's able to get up whenever he wants and wander around the room or into our room. i'm a little nervous to see how this works. we tested it out during nap time today and it went pretty well. for the first 15 minutes or so you could hear him bouncing around and squealing like a little girl. so i finally went up and peaked in only to find him standing at one end with his hands on the railing, counting "one, two, three, boooyyyyy" and then falling to his butt. repeat about a million times. i think he was a little excited about being a big boooyyyyy. pretty cute. after a serious talk about how we sleep in a big boy bed and not play, he drifted off and slept a nice long nap. he woke as usual with his rocking motion and didn't get out of bed before i went up to get him. i'm not sure how long he would stay put if i didn't go get him. i guess we'll see in the morning when i don't want to drag my butt out of bed!

a few more

so after i published my list of goals i, of course, thought of a few more. in addition to the ones in my last post, i'd like to accomplish the following things:

business related

1. after increasing traffic to shades of violet with strategically placed advertising and search engine optimization, my goal is to increase my business by 500% by the end of the year. that may sound like a huge number, but considering i didn't do a whole lot with it this year, it's not as much as it seems.

2. get, and stay, organized. i've started the organization project already and am really, really excited about it. it's not that i'm ever totally unorganized, or a messy person, but there's always room for improvement. i love the feeling of everything being clean and in it's place. so far my filing cabinet and desk have been pretty much organized. i'd love to get the rest of the office/storage space organized as well. (this will not be a small feat as it involves our entire basement)

personal

1. talk to a financial planner about our future. we currently have a 401k that has been rolled over into a "temporary" account that i had when i worked in corporate america. it's been sitting "temporarily" for 3 years now. while it's making pretty decent money sitting there, we should really explore our options more. this goes for the hubby's 401k, the little dude's college fund, etc. etc. etc. i just want to know that we're doing the right thing with our money so that we can live comfortably later in life.

2. make out a will. now that we have a kid, it should really be done. i'm a little embarrassed that we don't have one already, but hey, that's life. along with this, we need to look at our life insurance and adjust it accordingly.

3. re-do our personal budget. now that we have one of my student loans paid off as well as medical bills from ivf, we need to adjust our budget accordingly. i'd like to reallocate the money used for those things to pay our car and my other student loan off this year. (and maybe actually give our self a little "fun money" for once!)

ok, i think that about sums it up. i'm sure i'll think of more later.

so far 2007 is off to a pretty good start. while my list of things to do is a mile long, i'm slowly checking them off and making progress. i'm determined to make 2007 a great year!

welcome 2007!

i know many people hate resolutions because they say it’s impossible keep them. while i agree to a point, i also think it’s important to have some goals. attainable, realistic goals. none of those: “i’m going to eat only fruit for lunch every single day in 2007,” resolutions.

so here we go:

my goals for 2007 (and a little recap of 2006)

1. continue to grow my business at a comfortable pace. after last years huge sales goals, i realized that i’m quite happy where i ended up for the year. while i narrowly missed my main sales goal, i have also realized that i’m pretty pushed to my limits. i’ve hired help for the things i can, but there is so much in my business that other people just cannot do for me. (ie. design work) i think that while my child is still young, i just need to focus on making enough money to pay myself a decent salary and not try to over do it. i think i’ve hit my limit of how much i can possibly get done in a day without going insane. i just need to stay here for a while and worry about growing my business in little steps as i can handle them.
2. increase sales at the national stationery show by 30%. i know i just said i wanted to stay where i am, but increasing my sales at the nss doesn’t necessarily take a lot of extra work on my part. it’s all about marketing the right way to the right people. (hopefully i can figure out that equation.)
3. last year i had a goal to get a retail site up and running. that goal was easily and quickly achieved with the help of nicole at smart & lovely. this year i need to spend a little more time and money marketing and advertising the site so people actually know it’s there! i also need to work on my keywords for search engines. (something i know little if anything about….and don’t look forward to doing)
4. send out press releases and new samples to media on a more regular basis. (this is the same as last year. i still need to be better about it.)
5. get published in a “real” magazine. (again. same as last year. something i’m working on being better about. (see goal #4))

personal: key goals
1. last year i made a goal to lose 10 pounds. i tried really hard and went to the gym for the first couple months of the year and got nowhere. i mean not a pound. then the nss came and i got busy and put weight loss on the back burner. then somewhere around september, i thought i better give this weight loss thing one more try before the end of the year. i’m happy to say that i’m down between 8 and 9 lbs. in just a few short months the pounds have started falling off. without going to the gym! i’ve made several changes that have helped achieve my loss. first, i have been trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies in my diet. second, smaller portions sizes. third, i go walking at least twice a week. outside in the summer, inside at the local mall in the winter. i was really hoping to make it to 10 before the end of the year, but christmas really did me in. hey, i’m happy with 8 or 9. i’m down a whole pant size and my belt is 2 notches tighter!! yippee! so, this year’s goal is to lose at least another 7 lbs.!
2. last year’s goal of spending more one on one time with the little dude didn’t work so well. i’m constantly guilty that he’s entertaining himself all day while i work. i really want to try to work it out so that at 3:00 every afternoon, i’m done with work and spend 2 ½ hours with him one on one before daddy gets home from work. now that he’s older, he can start “helping” me with dinner and things like that which he enjoys. i’ve also signed us up for “toddler art time” at the john michael kohler arts center (where the hubby and i were married). i’m super excited to start this with him as it will be mommy and little dude time once a week doing art projects. it starts january 16th and goes for 6 weeks. if all goes well, maybe we’ll sign up for another session after that!
3. as you can probably tell by my lack of mentioning it, last years goal of trying to have another baby without infertility assistance (ie. ivf) didn’t go so well. i struggle with whether or not i should talk about our infertility on this blog. this blog was started to talk about being a business owner and mother, i’m not sure if it fits. i know that it’s obviously part of being a mom, but i’m not so sure if everyone wants to hear about it. we’ve tried several things this year to try and help but none of them have worked. we’ve recently started another option which i’m hopeful about. we’ll see. so, if you have an opinion on whether you’d like to hear about it or not, leave me a comment and let me know. otherwise i’ll continue to leave it out.
4. spend less time watching t.v…..again!!

welcome 2007. i have a good feeling about you, i think we’re going to be good friends!