I've been keeping to myself

Hi all. The last few months have been a whirlwind of emotions and disappointment. The main thing that has kept me away has been our 3rd round of IVF which we found out last Thursday was unsuccessful. Such sad and depressing news. I can tell you that it was a little easier to handle this time since I didn't even get pregnant at all (I got pregnant with both of the other IVFs later to miscarry). John and I hold our head up high, will evaluate our options and continue with adoption classes in September. Thank you for all of the prayers and encouragement that you have given us though our years of infertility troubles. xoxox

Some fun news... a few weeks ago I got a request from Creating Keepsakes for 3 (yes THREE) of my layouts. They want to publish them in an upcoming special issue! I have been published in other magazines but this is my first time in Creating Keepsakes Magazine. WOOOOOHOOOOOOO.

I am sorry that I never posted my PDW June layouts... like I said the IVF kinda took over for a month or two. Here they are! Speaking of Polka Dot Whimsy, you HAVE to go check out the new website. Isn't the logo SO cute! In the coming weeks, the message board will have more functionality and their will be a member gallery where everyone can share their creations. While you are over there sign up to be a member.. that way you won't miss a kit, you will be guaranteed PDW goodness EVERY MONTH!

Polka Dot fun!

As I came here to post Polka Dot Whimsy June Sneaks I realized that I never posted my May PDW projects. DUH. I will post them at the end.... Here are my June sneaks. The kit is so awesome that these projects pretty much made themselves! LOVE!!!! I am so excited to see the new site. Soon… very soon!!!!

Here are my May PDW projects...... Sorry for the yuck pics. i am having serious camera issues!

Here are the beautiful June sneaks!!!!!

National Scrapbook Day has come and gone. I rocked it OUT over at Studio Calico, completing all 19 of their challenges, Crazy right.... I made 5 layouts and 1 card to fulfill all of them. For each challenge you completed you were entered into a random drawing to win a $10 SC gift certificate. All of those chances to win and I won.. wait for it.. wait for it... ZERO. Guess luck wan't on my side. That's okay, I Love the projects I used a some of them really got me out of my comfort zone!

On a fun note, the hubs and I went out a few weeks ago with a bunch of friends and we had a blast! Here is some proof

The daughter was sick. Fever was 104.5 at midnight on night. UGGGG. She is FINALLY back to school today! YEA for me!. Good times over here in the Stanton house!

Happy Mother's day all!!!

Hope.

Phew, It has been busy around here! Sarah had her Spring Break and John took the week off.... We had a great week. We went to see How to Train your Dragon, Enjoyed Busch Gardens, Took a back stage tour of Raymond James Stadium (where the Bucs play), Had a beach day, plus some other fun stuff. It was a great week.

We also went to the Doctor (what's new, right?) Here are the basics... Based on my hormone numbers the doctor thinks I am about 5 years away from menopause. Great, right???? BUT the good news is that I told the doctor I still wanted to take that 5% chance of getting pregnant through IVF and go for it. He agreed! John and I figure that since our insurance covers 90% and we budgeted for the other 10% that we really have nothing to lose. We need some major prayer, magic, baby dust.. whatever works! We are also getting ready to take some adoption classes (MAPP) through the state that will allow us to begin the adoption process through the state. We are super excited and encouraged by everything!

I haven't been scrapping as much as I would like lately.... These may be the only 3 layouts I have done in over a month! My MoJo has been clouded by my thoughts. All of these were made using Studio Calico kits.... (love)

HSM obsession layout products used: patterned paper and embellie stickers - Sassafras, cardstock - Bazzill, wood veneer - Studio Calico, chipboard letters - American Crafts, red letters - October Afternoon

JAM layout products used: patterned paper - crate paper, Studio Calico, Sassafras, embellie stickers - Sassafras cardstock - Bazzill, wood veneer - Studio Calico, chipboard letters - Cosmo Cricket, Banner - Jenni Bowlin

PROUD layout products used: patterned paper - Sassafras, embellie stickers - Sassafras cardstock - Bazzill, , chipboard letters - Cosmo Cricket, Flowers - American Crafts,wood veneer - Studio Calico

Sometimes I get caught up

My own little world over here. I haven't entirely dropped off the face of the earth.. just mentally. Hang in there with me. Here are some projects I made with the PDW Apil kit. Cute stuff huh? You should see that gallery this month. I am amongst some amazing talent. Check it my fellow polkadots here!

Looking for some strength

If you know me or have followed my blog you know the fertility heartache that John and I have gone through over the last 4 ½ years. We have done 3 unsuccessful IUIs, 2 successful IVFs both resulting in miscarriage and countless tests trying to find some sort of explanation as to why we are not able to have a second baby. All the tests have come back fine…. Nothing has ever been wrong with John or me…. UNTIL NOW. Over the last few months we have been gearing up to proceed with a third IVF (they say 3 is a charm ya know)… more tests… all fine….. Then I go for my regular blood work that I have done MANY time before that measures hormone levels. In the infertility world this is commonly known as day 3 blood work (it is done on day 3 of your period). My results came back... BAD… when I say bad I mean BAD. My FSH (Follicle stimulating hormone) came back CRAZY high. 22 to be exact. 10 is the high side of normal. This is the worst possible news that we could have gotten. A high FSH level indicates that I have poor ovarian reserve… which means I am no longer an IVF candidate. We are going to repeat the test on day 3 of my next 2 cycles. Let’s hope its lab error or a fluke…. Let’s hope and pray.

This all just went down right before our 4 day Springfest trip, which was a fantastic getaway. Now that we are back home, the reality has set in… we have LOTS of research to do as far as next steps…. And if Adoption wasn’t so expensive we would have been on the waiting list long ago. We will figure this out, I know we will.

Updates and backlog

I realized that I have a few layouts that I never shared. Figured you may want to take a peek. Enjoy! I created all of these layouts using Studio Calico Kits


An IVF Update: Our tests are finally done so that we can start the IVF process again. We will know the results of the last one in about a week. We are anticipating starting process in the next 60 days or so. We are SO ready. As I have said before we are NOT getting any younger. This will be our 3rd IVF attempt (the last 2 were successful but ended in miscarriage). Everyone keeps saying third times a charm. We always try to be positive.. so that is what we will do... STAY POSITIVE.