The Key Ingredient

I'm NOT pregnant :(

2011-02-08T22:20:00.000-06:00

Well, most of you thought tomorrow was when we would find out if we're pregnant. That would be because I told you that. :) When, actually today(Tues. 2.8.11) was the day. We have chosen to let the world follow our in-vitro journey through this blog & facebook which means you know all our appointments, procedures, etc. We feel that since we're going through these trials maybe it will help others by following our journey. That being said, it also takes away the element of surprise by allowing "the world" to peek into our lives. Doing IVF & posting it all on here means you know when I find out if I'm pregnant etc. To have a little fun & hopefully get that element of surprise as a normal fertile couple would we chose to tell you a false date for when our pregnancy lab was. So, it was today.
Ryan & I went in at 8:45am for me to get my beta HCG level drawn to show if I was pregnant from those 3 embryos. It's not by any means instant results, we had to wait 4 hours for the Dr. to call. We didn't know exactly when he would call so to keep from going stir crazy we shopped! We left the Dr's office & went to Belk, Old Navy, Childrens Place etc :) We were keeping our eye out for Big Brother shirts so if we got good news we could buy Colt one.
While in Belk shopping I got a call from my friend & former boss, Stephanie Whitaker. She had NO CLUE we were finding out our pregnancy results today, I had told her it was tomorrow. She called to say I was on her heart. She had read a passage this morning that made her think about me. She wanted to read me the passage & pray over the phone together about this. I told her I was actually awaiting my results & was at Belk shopping so her timing was impecable! God's providence if you ask me! So I went into the dressing room to get in a quieter place where she & I could pray over the phone together. She prayed the below passage to God & that we would be able to accept whatever answer we were given today. She cried, I cried, it was so touching.
The passage:
Matthew 18: 18-20 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

God knew I needed to hear this passage. I believe I was on Stephanie's heart this morning for the simple fact that God knew what we were about to face & I needed a reminder that He is always with us but it may not be exactly the answer we want. But HE is in control. THANK YOU Stephanie for getting to work late :)because you took the time to share your heart with me. If you only knew at the time how much peace it would truly give me later in the day. Love you girl!

After killing time shopping we ate at the BEST burger joint in town BOHO Burger for a Bella Blue Cheese burger & fries!!! Then, we went to Barnes & Noble to kill MORE time b/c Dr. Bates still had not called with our results. It was almost 1:00 & Ryan had a sales appointment at 1:30 so he had to leave me, which HE DID NOT want to do. He wasn't gone 5 minutes when Dr. Bates called as I was meandering around Barnes & Noble. He said, "unfortunately your test was negative." Surprisingly, I didn't cry, I just said, "Ok, well I had a feeling I wasn't pregnant" (I had told Ryan that, this morning as we waited...for some reason I just didn't feel good about it) Then, I asked what do you think went wrong? Dr. B said well of course they would have loved to have had more embryos to choose from (since I had like 8 with Coltons cycle & only 3 with this one) BUT the ones they did have he was very pleased with & they had really high hopes of me getting pregnant (keep in mind my success rate is only 60% & will never be higher than that). Dr. B said there is only so much they can do once the embryos are in me it's left to my body to do the rest. So...there it was! I FINALLY had the news I had anticipated all day. I think I was just relieved to have an answer one way or the other. I rushed out of B&N b/c I felt the tears coming on . I called Ryan before he reached his appointment & balled as I told him. He being my "Rock" said encouraging words but expressed his disappointment at the same time. He HATED he wasn't with me. He did keep repeating that part :) I decided to go on home. I was debating whether I should go see my lil' man, Colt, at Mimi & PawPaws house b/c I was really missing him even more so after getting this news. I just wanted to see his smiling face & hear that adorable laugh of his! I decided to go home & lay in bed which was the other thing I wanted to do. My sister told me not to do that but to go do something that makes me happy...like go get a starbucks! But, I couldn't. I didn't want one. (If you know me you know that's just CRAZY!) Since Ryan had another appointment after his 1:30 I knew he wouldn't be home until 4:00 so I laid in bed & fell asleep. My adorable husband got home with an awesome card for me & a picture frame that said Family-Memories of a Lifetime & it had a picture of a family of 3 in it. I knew exactly what he meant with that present, a reminder to thank God for the family of 3 we have. So I'll be putting a picture in there of Ryan, Colt & I. Then, I called my family & we went to Ryan's folks house to tell them & had some dinner at Cracker Barrel with them. I haven't cried since that one time with Ryan over the phone. I can't explain the peace I feel over all this. I DID NOT expect this peace at all. I KNOW to give credit to GOD for the peace that passes all understanding though. (Philippians 4:7) I don't know why I was able to get pregnant with Colton the first time I did IVF in 2009 with 2 embryos & now in 2011 with 3 embryos I didn't...but I do know I'll be able to ask God one day. Until then, we'll press on...we have an appointment tomorrow morning with Dr. Bates to discuss the future...what we should do...what he would do differently etc. I feel I need to go ahead & discuss this & "get it over with" I guess :)

Thank you to ALL OF YOU who have followed us through needle prick after needle prick! For your words of encouragement & most importantly your prayers. I still have hopes of being a mom to 2 or more children...whether they're biological or not...only God knows for now. We'll just keep praying for another blessing.
~Kelly

I HAVE 3 Embryos IN ME!!!

2011-01-27T18:36:00.000-06:00

I have THREE embryos IN ME!!! So...it's been a stressful week ever since Dr. Bates called us on Tuesday to tell us out of 9 eggs we only had 3 embryos. Stressful b/c we had to decide whether to put all 3 in & risk me having triplets & making me an extra high risk pregnancy or put 2 in & freeze the remaining one for a future cycle. The deal is with me being high risk due to my 3 blood clotting factors my Hematologist (blood dr.) feels it's safest for me to only have 2 embryos in me at a time. Since birthing multiples automatically qualifies you as a high risk pregnancy for me to birth multiples would qualify me as extra extra high risk! SO...we've been very prayerful this week as we approached todays Embryo Transfer. We didn't know anything about our embryos until we arrived this morning. I went to acupuncture first to be stuck with 10 needles & listen to ocean waves & used that quiet time to pray for God's guidance & to give us peace of mind in our decision making. I left acupuncture & went straight to Dr. Bates office at UAB's Kirklin Clinic were I began dranking 64oz of water! They need my bladder full in order to see easily to insert the catheter with the embryos. My sweet husband sat beside me very nervous as to the decision we were about to be faced with. Insert 3 & risk my safety? or insert 2 & freeze one leaving that embryo to be used in the future? We met with Dr. Bates who told us our 3 embryos were doing well, two in particular looked really good! One was a 7 cell embryo with a letter grade of A- (If you looked back at my 2009 in-vitro blog post you will see where we were extremely excited that Colton was an 8 cell, grade B embryo b/c they NEVER grade them with an A b/c it's so uncommon! Dr. Bates had told me in 2009 that he had not seen an A embryo in a year & half!) Well, NOW he has! This one has extreme potential for pregnancy! Here is the picture they gave me of this embryo. :)

Then, he told us our 2nd embryo was an 8 Cell letter grade of C! This one also has great potential for pregnancy!!! (the other embryo that was transferred along with Colton was a B- but it didn't take...obviously since I just had Colt) :) Here's a picture of this sweet embryo.

And for our 3rd embryo it is a 3 cell, letter grade D.

This is the one we had to decide to transfer or freeze? When Dr. Bates told us it would not make it to the point of freezing it would die on its own in a couple of days we decided we wanted to give it a chance at life! Maybe being put inside it's momma will do it some good & it might be strong willed like it's momma & kick some tail in there & continue to grow! Due to the grading of the 3rd embryo (& it not being so good) our chances of Triplets is ONLY 1%. SO...that doesn't worry us. We know that God is in control & if we have triplets we will cherish them but most likely we will have at least one pregnancy (we hope!). Our chances of twins is 15-20% for all of those wondering :) Dr. Bates did say this batch of embryos is better than our Colton batch AND we GOT a pregnancy with the Colton batch! So it's looking very good that we'll get 1 if not 2 babies out of this IVF cycle!

This is a picture of the 3 Embryos inside me :) Can you see them? Neither can I! :) So no worries!

Here is the sheet they gave us showing the stats of what all we had etc.

Funny Story: After Embryo Transfer today I went BACK to acupuncture. I laid on the bed got my needles stuck in my knees, wrists & ears. This time though...instead of listening to ocean waves the Dr. asked if I would like to listen to Embryo Transfer Meditation. I said Sure! (not having a clue what that would involve) I lay there & hear the soft soothing voice of this woman coming from an Ipod, saying, "take a deep breath, let the tension out, take another deep breath, now visual the embryos attaching to your uterus" !!! Okay at that point I wanted to die laughing! But I couldn't b/c the needles would have hurt had I started moving around. So I took some deep breaths which did get me very relaxed & I decided maybe this was supposed to be the Power of Positive Thinking? So...I did my visualizing...THEN....I no longer heard the soft, soothing voice of that woman...cause I fell asleep! :)

So..I leave you with that for now! Wednesday, February 9th is Pregnancy Test day!!! Woot Woot! Please keep praying that we are blessed with at least one healthy pregnancy if not more!

Embryo Transfer is Tomorrow!!!

2011-01-26T23:01:00.000-06:00

Well, my nurse Lee Ann called this afternoon to tell me we are doing Embryo Transfer tomorrow (Thurs 1/27/11) at 10:30am. We have to arrive at 9:30 & prior to that I have to go to acupuncture at 8:15am! Then, I have to return to the acupuncturist after embryo transfer & from there I will go home for bed rest the remainder of the day! Please pray all goes well tomorrow & that we can be blessed with at least one little embryo attaching to me! The procedure tomorrow is no biggie...I just have to drink 64oz of water an hour prior to the transfer, so holding my need to urinate will be the hardest part! ;) They prescribe 1 Xanax pill to calm you for the procedure so I'll for sure be taking that! I've already began my Progesterone Injections once a day (which my sweet husband gives to me in my boo-hiney) which helps me get/keep a pregnancy. So...we're all set! Thanks again for all the prayers thus far! Keep 'em comin'!!!

Recuperating from Egg Retrieval & Embryo Status

2011-01-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to give y'all an update. Egg Retrieval on Monday went just great. I had a great support team that day with my Dad, Ryan & my brother Jeremy in the waiting room, & Mimi at my house watching Colt for us. I was supposed to be under conscious sedation but I was completely knocked out! And continued to be completely knocked out until really today. Yesterday I was still in some pain & felt like my mind was in a fog. Today though, I feel really normal again. I'm still hurting off & on but that's to be expected. Dr. Bates called me yesterday to let me know that out of 9 eggs retrieved I had 3 embryos. The majority of my eggs were immature (meaning not ready to be fertilized). So the ones that were ready to be fertilized actually formed embryos the rest did not. 3 is less than I expected but as long as I have 2 for embryo transfer tomorrow (thursday) that is great with us. Any remainders will be frozen as we believe life begins at conception & conception for us is in the petry dish. So whatever is not transferred will be used at a later date. We also feel that just leaving an embryo in the freezer is the same as throwing it away so we WILL use whatever is remaining in the freezer at some point. I have already gone to acupuncture today & will also go tomorrow. Right now I am just waiting on a final call from Dr. Bates on the status of my embryos & what time embryo transfer will be tomorrow (thursday 1/27/11). Can't believe we're already to this point! Thank you to so many who have been so helpful this week with watching Colt as I have been on bed rest & had lots of dr's appointments. Mimi (Bev Key) who came early Monday morning to our house to watch Colt then took him home with her that night & let him stay the night at her house with she & Paw Paw. Paw Paw (Butch Key) took Colt to Mimi's PET Scan appt on Tuesday (which had great results! No Cancer!) then Butchly took Colt him with him all by himself & watched him the remainder of the day (Mimi had to go to Tuscaloosa to see about her Daddy, Velt Dollar, who sadly passed away Tuesday night). Ryan picked Colt up that eve & thanks to him for watching Colt & getting him to bed that night! And that brings us to today when I realized I had an acupuncture appointment & needed a sitter! So...my good ole' friend Brookie Wookie Williams saved the day by letting me drop Colt off for a couple hours to play with Caroline. And she will also save the day tomorrow as I have acupuncture, embryo transfer, acupuncture again then bed rest for the remainder of the day! Thank you friends & family! I'll post an update later today when I hear from the Dr.!

Egg Retrieval HAS ARRIVED!!!

2011-01-22T21:45:00.000-06:00

I went this morning to see my IVF doctor, Dr. Bates, & after seeing my egg follicles he declared Monday, January 24th, as my Egg Retrieval Day!!! That's a day earlier than they originally had planned. Which means my egg follicles have gotten close to the necessary size (2 centimeters) & are ready to mature & be taken out. After seeing my progress today he thinks they will get 8-10 eggs out of this retrieval. Which is the same amount they predicted they would get when I did this in 2009 with Colt. He said he was glad they doubled my egg production meds (Follistim & Menopur) this go around b/c if they hadn't I would have probably only gotten 5 eggs. So you just never know how your body will respond, double the meds didn't turn out to be double the result. Just a little tidbit of info....my estrogen level is also something they look at to determine when I will have egg retrieval & today my estrogen level was 1200! On this past Tuesday it was just 249...so it increased a lot! I no longer take my Follistim & Menopur injections!!! Yay!!! Starting tomorrow (sunday) I'll be back to 2 shots a day & that's just my blood thinner! 7 shots a day for a week has mostly made me late to everything! :) I had to tack on an extra 30 minutes in the mornings just to get my shots done! Tonight is my hCG Injection (human chorionic gonadotrophin). I was told to do this at precisely 9:30 pm. OH MY WORD! It's 9:30 right now! (seriously this ironic...pause...I'll be right back!) Okay :) 9:42pm & I've done my injection! :) That shot is to help the egg follicles mature so they can be ready for departure on Monday.

Specific prayer request regarding this procedure. This is the most risky part for me due to my 3 blood clotting disorders, being on blood thinner & this being a surgical procedure. Too retrieve my eggs they take a long needle & insert it through my "female parts". That needle gets inserted into each egg follicle (8-10) & draws the fluid off the follicle & the egg is in that fluid. The risk to this process is that they can nick me with the needle & cause internal bleeding. In case that did happen to me they take preventative measures by having me NOT do my blood thinner (Lovenox) injection the night before nor the morning of the procedure. And of course the risk to that is I could develop a blood clot from not having my medicine. Obviously, none of this scary stuff happened...our prayers were answered & everything went great! So, we are doing everything the same as last time. If it ain't broke...don't fix it right?! But we would still appreciate the prayers.

Egg Follicles, Egg Follicles, where art thou Egg Follicles????

2011-01-20T10:10:00.000-06:00

Well, a lot has happened this week. I think I should start spending the night up at UAB's Kirklin Clinic I'm up there so much lately! I went to my IVF appointment on Tuesday (1/18/11) & had an intervaginal ultrasound to check out my egg follicle progression. When the Dr's said, "Wow! You're in the lead!" I knew that was a good sign. :) They said my follicles looked great & I was ahead of the other ladies that day with how large mine had gotten in my 4 days of meds. I like a good competition so this made me happy! ;) I had 18 follicles in all. That means 18 eggs are progressing. All of these will not be retrieved. They have to progress to 2 centimeters in order to be taken out & put in the petry dish with Ryan's fishies. I left Dr. Bates office for Southern Pharmaceutical where I get all my IVF drugs. Due to the high cost of IVF drugs they don't prescribe more than necessary. I was running out of my Menopur & Follistim for egg production so I went to pick up more...with a quick stop to Starbucks along the way ;)

After that appointment I went to my 1st accupuncture session of this IVF cycle! I see Dr. Martha Ivey with Alabama Oriental Medical Arts - Specializing in Infertility. I chose to do this w/ the last IVF cycle b/c I figured we should go "ALL IN." Since I was successful & got Colt out of that cycle we're going "ALL IN" this go around too! The idea behind accupuncture & infertility is that the needles help increase blood flow. Increased blood flow can't hurt anything & so it helps the egg follicle production & is supposed to help produce better eggs. All I can say is it's 30 minutes in a dark, quiet room, no phones or computers so it's some great stress relief! I chose to close my eyes & use this time to pray. Sometimes I might sleep but this visit I had a lot on my heart. I had 10 pins stuck in me: one in the top of each foot, my right ear, right hand, left wrist & the remaining 5 in my stomach. (The pictures you see below are actually from my 2009 accupuncture session. This session still looked the same so no need for new pics)

Today, (1/20/11) I went back to Dr. Bates office for another ultrasound & to draw blood to check my estrogen level. My follicles were doing great. Because I was the first appointment this morning I don't know if mine were "in the lead" :) I have about 13 egg follicles that have really progressed from Tuesday to today. Those will most likely be the ones to be retrieved. The others can continue to grow but probably won't grow to 2 centimeters by my egg retrieval day. Starting yesterday I began to hurt in my lower abdomen which is to be expected. I'm starting to feel bloated & when Colton plopped up & down on my lap I squealed with pain! I remember all this from last time but I didn't have a 1yr climbing on me last go around! :) I have to make another trip to Southern Pharmaceutical today for my last round of egg production drugs! Because I have progressed so well my eggs will be ready to retrieve most likely on MONDAY 1/24/11 instead of Tuesday! BUT I have to go to my 3rd IVF appointment this week ON SATURDAY to do all this again & see where we stand. (Auburn i'm sorry I will most likely not be able to attend the BCS National Championship celebration as planned) :(

Because I think pictures make things real (& are more fun to look at than words) have a looksey at the current state of my abdomen. This is after my 4 shots this morning. Tonight I'll add 3 to that list.

*Mason Hinote...(my lil' nephew) that Cars sticker is for you buddy* :)

Let the INJECTIONS begin!!!

2011-01-14T01:44:00.001-06:00

And HERE are THE DRUGS! After my appointment yesterday (Wed. 1/12/11) my WONDERFUL nurse Lee Ann called to tell me my estrogen level was low which was good & my egg follicles looked great. Now, I am to lower my Lupron injection dosage from 10 to 5, begin giving myself a follistim injection in the A.M. and P.M. and begin my Menopur Injection in the A.M & P.M also. So folks...beginning tomorrow I will be giving myself SEVEN shots a day! Can you say human pin cushion? :)

Below is my Calendar of Events, In-Vitro events that is. Next week I will begin Accupuncture (something I did last in-vitro cycle & want to do again just to keep everything the same since it worked!) Tuesday I'll go in for labs & an ultrasound to see how the ole egg follicles are coming along. And then I'll go in for more labs next Friday or Saturday. THEN the fun really begins! Tuesday, January 25th is when they put me under (some of the best sleep ever) to retrieve all my eggs. And on Friday, Jan. 28th Embryo Transfer will take place! I won't actually be pregnant once that happens though, the embryo still has to attach to my uterine cavity/wall. So you all just keep praying that all goes well please!

After that we WAIT! :(

Until Feb. 9th to go in & draw blood to see if I am preggers.

Tonight I went to an IVF seminar given by the BEST DOCTOR EVER...Dr. Bates :) You would think I know all there is about this topic having already done this once but oh no! there is soooo much more to learn. It's so wild all that they can do these days! My favorite part was getting to see the Embryo Lab. I believe life begins at conception so that means my lil' fella Coltons life began in the Embryo Lab at UAB's Kirklin Clinic. It was cool to see the incubator that has 3 doors you have to open just to get to the embryos. (NO there weren't embryos in there b/c they are waiting on the next round of IVF to fill it up..which will be in 2 weeks with mine!) Each machine in the Embryo lab has it's own security system to keep those embryos safe. That lab is a pressurized room & of course extremely sterile. We couldn't actually go in, we got to look in from the door. I might be a dork but I found it cool to learn about it. :) Well...that's all for tonight. I've got to go get rested up for some morning injections ;)

My In-Vitro Calendar of Events!

2011-01-11T19:48:00.001-06:00

Well, I went on Thursday (1/6 /11) to get my Calendar of Events as I like to call it, from my nurse Lee Ann at Dr. Bates office. It has each appointment for the in-vitro process on there so you know what's happening when. As of now, my next appointment is tomorrow, Wednesday, for an ultrasound & to get some labs drawn. I haven't started any new drugs yet...those will begin sometime this weekend. The Lupron I've been on for a week & half now has definitely shown it's ugly face. :) With hot flashes during the night, irritability & not wanting to be social(which IS NOT me!) My tummy is currently seeing 3 injections a day which will soon escalate! Especially since I learned at my last visit that Dr. Bates has doubled my Menopur prescription which is to increase egg production. In 2009 when we did in-vitro I produced 10 eggs. This time they're doubling the egg production meds so they can hopefully get even more eggs which in turn will result in more embryos. Reason being...we know the best chance for me to get pregnant is through in-vitro & since I want 4 kiddos they are wanting to have some embryos to freeze for future babies..OR if this cycle doesn't work then I wouldn't have to go through the entire process again. Last in-vitro I had 10 eggs, only 8 formed embryos, 2 embryos were placed in me, the remaining 6 embryos (we had hoped we could freeze) all passed away before making it to that point. :( So, I was left with none in the freezer. We'll see what happens this go around! All I can say is pray I can still sit down once I start that drug! I remember last time having to lower myself into the pew at church b/c my ovaries were so sore from pumping out all these eggs. With a double dose of meds!!!! I CANNOT imagine! AND a 1yr old boy who likes to rough house his mama....we'll have to call it quits for our wrestling sessions for a bit. :) I'll let you know how tomorrow goes!!!

Mama of 1 hopefully soon Mama of 2 (or 3) ;)

We're Doing IN-VITRO to try for BABY #2

2011-01-02T23:11:00.000-06:00

So...it's been a while since I've posted but I thought this would be a great way to let a lot of folks know at one time that we are doing In-Vitro to try for Baby #2! Last time we did In-Vitro (Feb/Mar of 2009) it worked well for me to keep everyone apprised of our journey by using this blog. I plan to do the same this go around.

The run down on why we're doing In-Vitro again. You're wondering why don't we just try on our own right? Maybe my body knows what to do now that I've had one child? We all know of someone who did In-Vitro & was successful then just popped up pregnant on their own a few months later right? These same thoughts have run through my mind too!

We did "try on our own". For 7 months to be exact. We used ovulation kits to better our chances but with no luck. Due to me having endometriosis my chances of getting pregnant "on my own" is only 2-3% ! That was a SHOCK to me! A very small chance. Here's another interesting stat our Dr. told us, a couple who has NO infertility issues (a normal couple) has only a 20-30% chance of getting pregnant each month. That percentage was surprising to us too.

We met with Dr. Bates at UAB's Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility on December 1st 2010 to discuss our options. We had hoped there would be a cheaper, less evasive route this time. There isn't. In a nutshell the SAFEST for KELLY b/c I am high risk due to 3 clotting factors is to do In-Vitro. The procedure yeilding the highest success rate, In-Vitro. I'll have a 60-70% chance of getting pregant, this was the same percentage I had with Colt. So, once we had that information we knew what we had to do to have our 2nd child.

I have already had a few appointments in preparation for the big event. They checked the current state of my egg follicles, drew lots of bloodwork (for Ryan & I), & drew more bloodwork! I have already been

switched over to my Lovenox Injection blood thinner which I give myself twice a day in the stomach. The pill form of blood thinner, called Coumadin, can harm a fetus so we had to get that out of my system. The injectable blood thinner does not harm the fetus, it passes over the placenta. I started my first drug of many today, it's called Lupron. It is also an injection that goes in my stomach, but only once a day! This particular drug will supress my system & make me go through menopause. They do this so they can control your cycle & get all the in-vitro patients on a similar schedule to contain the chaos. :) This drug has some stinky side effects that I NOR RYAN :) look forward too...hot flashes, night sweats, moodiness etc. But it's all worth it in the end if a I get another one of THESE! :)

Last time we did in-vitro we let the WORLD know about it! And you know what, it helped others going through infertility & it allowed more people to be praying for us to have the blessing of a child. Well...it worked! We did get blessed with our now, 13.5 month old, Colton Christopher Key. So, we solicit your prayers again as we go through this next month & a half of prodding & procedures.

Thanks from the Heart,

Kelly (mommy to 1, prayerful to be a mommy of 2)

Ryan (awesome daddy to 1, prayerful to be a daddy of 2)

Colton (who would like a sibling to give open mouth kisses too & share his "bite bites" with)

Heisman (our 120 lb. yellow lab who needs another kiddo to stomp on his paws)

Grandpa Hinote comes to visit!!! & more...

2010-06-25T23:46:00.002-05:00

My dad came to visit a couple weekends ago & Colton was glad to see his Grandpa Hinote! The Saturday Dad was here we had a prior engagement to attend but when we returned home the swing Dad had bought Colt was hung!!! We were SOOOO excited! We decked Colton out in his shades & he was ready to go!

Grandpa's know how to do everything just right! It was hanging at the perfect length & Colton loved swinging!

Dad explaining to Ryan how he hung that swing with NO help! He's a genius...he threw the rope over the limb! We were thinking we were going to have to borrow a tall ladder to hang the swing! :)

The church crew at Sunday lunch. We went to Firebirds!!! One of my favorites! In attendance: Ash, Nolan & Jake Williams, The 5 Southerns, The 4 Dyers, Rick & Brooke, Allison, Don & Kate Farmer...and us! It was a lot of fun!

Grandpa & Colton

Me, My daddio, & Colt

Me & My Bestie (Ryan) :)

Colton went on his first swim recently on his 7 month birthday, June 14th. We met church friends at the YMCA for some sun & cooling off. Baylee Southern is a great helper holding Colt here.

Surrounded by Southerners!!! ;) Ella Southern (Colts Girlfriend), Colt & Baylee

Almost all the crew: Haleigh Dyer, Hannah Dyer, Ella, Colt & Baylee. (Kate Farmer is in the background by that lifejacket) :) Colton never cried the whole time we were there. But he wasn't overly excited either. I think I had high expectations of him laughing & splashing around...but since I had to hold him the whole time I guess he didn't feel too free.

This past weekend we went to the Farm up in Moulton, AL for a quick get-a-way, just the 3 of us. (well...4 of us counting Heisman) ;) We set Colts paknplay on the pier so he could play while we fished. It worked awesome! Heisman swam as always!

Colt chillin on the pier with mommys water bottle. Check out those rollie thighs!!!

Ryan fishin'...

My husband whipped up an awesome meal! Hamburger patties, fresh fried okra, corn & sweet tea!! It was Awesome! To be out in the country, we needed a country meal.

My snuggle bunny :)

Colt & Daddy

Cutey!

1 of many reasons we go to the farm...the sunsets...

1 of many reason I GO TO THE FARM :) To fish! How you like that bass Ryan!!! Ha ha!

Random: I LOVE PRUNES!!! :)

We had a wonderful time as always together. I thanked Ryan for WANTING to spend time with me & Colt. It seems so many dads/husbands don't care to spend quality time with their spouse or children. Ryan is definitely not in that category. We both know to keep our marriage strong we have to spend quality time together periodically even away from friends & family. My soap box: If you haven't done that in a while please do so...it can't hurt!

See ya' soon!

Brookies Baby Shower

2010-06-06T22:29:00.003-05:00

HERE SHE IS! The HOT-MAMA to BE...BROOKIE WOOKIE PRESSNELL WILLIAMS!!!

aka: My best friend :)

We had her baby shower at my work, Engaged - A Wedding Library, due to the remodeling taking place at our church. It's a very girly place so it was very appropriate for our lil' Caroline Williams.

The adorable invitation to coordinate with Brookes Javis Davis bedding.

Keri Southern did an awesome job embroidering these onesies for our clothesline.

Clever phrases for lil' Caro... No pressure Caroline... with both parents being Dr's :)

You can't help but sing..."sweet Caroline..bop, ba, ba.."

This frame just so happened to be on display at Engaged & it said Caroline & Josh. Since Colton is betrothed to Caroline...we had to edit it. :)

Carolines nickname banner :)

I had so many diapers left from when Colt was so small & then overnight doubled his weight ;) that I made her a diaper cake. I made the topper a hairbow so it's multi-functional :) I added a FAVORITE of Colts...If you've never met Sophie the Giraffe then your teething child is MISSING OUT. She seems way too expensive for just a teething toy, but I promise you we have already gotten out $20 out of it. She squeaks but with Colt 6.5 months old we can still take her to church without him squeaking her...he can still chew but not have her make noise.

Da' Grubb...

Debbers Pressnell(Brookes Mama) and Brookie

Keri & Allison in their cute dresses. Ashley sportin' her pink tongue from the HOT PINK cupcakes which were supposed to be pastel pink...

Some of the attendees: Ashley Williams, Priscilla Gray, Christi Key, Allison Farmer, Robin Stover & Bethany Tongate.

Her Vera Bradley diaper bag she wanted.

Her Sister-in-law Korie made her TONS of awesome stuff, from outfits to a diaper bag to these so cute burp cloths!

Avent Bottle nipples...my FAVE bottle! (Colts too!)

3 silly friends: Me, Brooke and Keri

Sweet sisters, Baylee & Ella Southern, swingin' in the sunshine!

So pretty.

The Hostesses with the Mostesses: Me, Ashley Williams, Brooke Williams, Lana Drewery, Allison Farmer, Robin Stover, down in front: Keri Southern and Tiffany Hall

Awesome time! Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Sweet Caroline who is due July 10th!!!

Colton is 6 months old!!!

2010-05-20T22:57:00.002-05:00

So, it's been 3 months since I last posted. WOW! am I behind! :) So sorry! This will be a quick update on my lil' buddy, Colt. He turned 6 months old on May 14. Wow how time has flown by! He is THE MOST WONDERFUL thing that has happened to Ryan & I. We just cannot get enough of him. He weighed in at 19 lbs 8oz, which was the 75%tile. His is 27.5 inches tall which is 90%tile. So he is doing great! He started rolling over on his own the day he turned 6 months old. He is eating 80z of formula 4 times a day, loving some baby food, & goes to bed at 8:30pm & sleeps until 7am...he is just an awesome baby. I am working 14 hours a week(2 days) up at Engaged, A Wedding Library, which is also the office for our magazine, Perfect Wedding Guide. In my free time, I have been reading & tanning on my back deck in my inflatable swimming pool. (can you tell I grew up in FL & miss my beach!) ;) Well..that's all for now...enjoy the pictures below from a wonderful Mothers Day. MY FIRST, & I was able to focus on it being just that, a blessing of finally being a Mom, instead of being depressed that I wasn't a mom & missing my Mom who resides in Heaven.

The Key Clan

OH! Give me 10 more just like him!!! (really 3 more) :)

The 3 Keys

Colton lovin' on his Granddaddy Key

He loves some Uncle Chaddie & Aunt Prissy!

Day #2 with MiMi & Paw-Paw

2010-02-18T14:36:00.004-06:00

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Mimi got to my house at 9:05 - I was finishing my bottle from mom, and dad was on a business conference call. I kissed them bye, and Mimi surprised me by taking me to Aunt Curl and Gigi's house... Beau was very excited to see me, but I didn't pay any attention to him. I had already fallen asleep in the car and just couldn't wake up - Aunt Curl and Gigi held me a little and then I laid on Gigi's big bed, but I really wanted to go back to sleep in my carseat, so Mimi and I hit the road back to her house. When we pulled into the garage, Paw Paw and Uncle Jared raced to see me and said, "Welcome to Paw Paw's house!" But it didn't phase me - I was sound asleep and slept in my carseat until 12:30. Paw Paw and Uncle Jared fed me 5 1/2 ounces and I did a big poop for Jared - he didn't seem to mind it at all, but Mimi cleaned me up and I felt better... I showed my talent by hiccupping and pooping at the same time. Mimi talked to me and I cooed and tried to imitate her sounds... I sat in my rocker a little but couldn't get comfortable, so Mimi wrapped me in my SwaddleMe and laid me down in my bed... I listened and watched the Great Barrier Reef screen and when the music stopped, I still wasn't asleep but wasn't fussing... but Mimi turned on some country music and I went to dreamland... I closed my baby blues around 2:30 and tried to wake up around 4:15... when Mimi picked me up and gave me my paci I returned to nodland... Mom & dad came about 4:20 & I heard them but thought I must be dreaming so slept until Paw Paw fed me at 4:50. I recognize voices from my mom and dad - that's for sure! Mom, dad, and I left for church a little after 6...

Paw Paw took a picture of me in one of his boots: "I was going to go hunting with Uncle Jared, but I couldn't get the other boot on"... ahhh, life is grand!

Uncle Jared gave me my bottle yesterday...

and here's my speech lesson withMimi...

I also found the singing Happy Bear that lights up,

put my fingers in my mouth,

and got a new hairdo from Mimi...

Coltons Days with Mimi & Paw Paw: Day #1

2010-02-18T14:16:00.003-06:00

Colton has been staying with Ryans parents (mimi & paw-paw) 3 days a week since I went back to work January 11th. Mama Key does a journal entry of each stay Colton has with them. She emails this entry out along with pictures. My friends & family have gotten a kick out of these so I thought it would be nice to start posting them on my blog. This way, everyone can keep up with Colton on a weekly basis!

Monday, January 11, 2010

This was my first day to stay at Mimi and Paw Paw's house as mom returned to work at Engaged... she is excited that she gets to work at home rather than go to an office and sit behind a desk... and when she's excited, so am I! Mimi fed me 5 ounces at 11:45 and that filled my belly, and when I started crying at getting my diaper changed, Uncle Jared called me a baby and said I was too little to go out with him... but that's okay because I'll be big before he knows it! I liked the rocker that Mimi placed me in & I watched the lights on the television set for a while before I got a little fussy... then Mimi took the rocker into the warm kitchen where I fell asleep listening to The Fray and Sugarland. I slept until Paw Paw got home from Albertville around 3:15 - and when he picked me up, naptime was a thing of the past. I was really, really hungry and drank 5 ounces at 3:30... Mimi is learning when I am full as a tick because she didn't insist on making me drink the last drops when I gave her THAT look - you know what I mean?! I rode in my carseat with Mimi beside me back to my house where mama and daddy were waiting on me with open arms... ah, to be loved... is there anything better?!

Mom, have a great first day back at work with Engaged... you don't have to worry about anything... what happens at Mimi's and Paw Paw's stays at Mimi's and Paw Paw's...

I love you, mom and dad.

Colton C.

P.S. Uncle Jared wouldn't take me out with him... he said I was still a baby...

Paw Paw fed me a bottle...

and Mimi is teaching me syllables... what fun! I'm getting prepared for school!

I love you, mom and dad.

Love,Colton C.

Coltons Nursery!!!

2010-02-08T18:32:00.009-06:00

FINALLY! I am posting pictures of Colts nursery! Some of you have been awaiting this moment. :) First off let me explain how this creation came about. I like to think of myself as a creative person...normally. Being pregnant makes you "unnormal" :). I had no creative juices while pregnant. And I especially didn't have any creative juices for a boy room...I wanted different but felt limited. You know they always have more cute stuff out there for girls than boys.

So..I got in touch with Mandy at HotHouse Design Studio http://hothousedesignstudio.com here in Birmingham. She advertises with the magazine I work for (Perfect Wedding Guide), so I knew her style & knew she could help me come up with something different! She came by the house & accessed my style (based on the rest of our decor throughout the house) & checked out our space for the nursery. I then told her my likes & dislikes. A week or so later she called me to meet & discuss the 3 ideas she came up with for me. They were all super cute ideas but mine & her favorite was this one that you see below. We call it "Aviary Sunshine". The inspiration is from the bedding material which is found on http://javisdavis.com. This particular fabric set is called Aviary Sunshine.

This is as you walk into the nursery. The painting on the right is from my friend Keri Southern. She has a friend who paints & had her paint it to coordinate with the room! Perfect huh?! The scripture painted on it is our "theme verse" for Colton, I Samuel 1:27 "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him." I guess it should say For this child people all over the country prayed! Because that is the truth! We are so blessed to know so many who believe in the power of prayer.

These probably look repetitive but I am trying to be sure you can see every single thing. :) Glider chair to the right..we LOVE! Have to tell you that I got it at good 'ole Burlington Coat Factory for $250 bucks! That is cheap for those of you who haven't shopped around for an upholstered glider!

This book shelf we already had in our office & it's from IKEA. We went back to IKEA in Atlanta & bought the baskets & drawers that are made to fit this shelf. We then spray painted the baskets to match the room! My first time to experiment with spray paint for plastic, but it worked great on the 2 tan & 1 bright yellow plastic inserts. I LOVE childrens books so Colton has a good collection going already.

The crib! Okay...let me explain this oval crib. Again I don't want anything "normal". :) 5 years ago I was in Gulf Shores with Brooke at my in-laws Timeshare. While there, we went shopping at The Wharf. I was drawn into this baby store by the white ROUND crib I saw hanging from the CEILING in the center of the store. We went in & I couldn't believe it. I wanted that thing! I am typically a girl that knows what she wants. From the checklist in my purse that itemized what a guy had to be like in order to be my boyfriend :) to getting engaged & knowing exactly how I wanted my wedding! I knew I wanted a round crib of some sort. I never let go of that...years later I am finally preggers & I begin the hunt for a round crib. In the end it wasn't the actual one I saw at that store in Gulf Shores, b/c that one was Corsican which is very expensive and it was too frilly for a boy. But I did find this Oval crib which really is even better...because that was the most unique shape I had seen! It's a Stokke crib & I got if off of http://landofnod.com . Sidenote...my original plan was to hang it from the ceiling (even though everyone thought I was crazy), but our nursery is very small. In order to hang it from the ceiling it really looks best in the center of the room which would have made the room cramped. But..one day I would like to have a swing in my living room. Not this house, but maybe when we build one day. :)

If you know me hardly at all then you know I LOVE animal prints. So..Colton got orange leopard printed sheets. :) The awesome seamstress who made all my bedding (including the special oval sheets) ;) is my bosses Aunt, Kathy. She is for hire! Let me know if you need some stuff made. She also made my valance which you can see in other pictures. She did an impecable job! I wouldn't put her on here if I didn't feel comfortable recommending her.

OH! The closet! As you can see it is VERY small. Old house...small closets...gotta' make due. Thankfully, I was told by Brooke that her friend bought this cool thing from Babies R Us, a bar that has a chain that hangs from your top rod. Then you have two rods to hang clothes from. *note: the chain & bar are plastic. When you have lots of clothes to hang from this plastic the chain wants to break away from the bar. But no worries, bust out your clear strapping tape & it's fixed and even better...no one will notice..it's clear!*

Okay..so Colton is very blessed to have his cousin Mason who is 2 yrs old & his cousin Eli who is 1 yr old. They both passed down their clothes, bibs, shoes, hats, you name it we got it! Do you see all those bibs to the right on the top bar? I've never seen so many bibs! Oh & the clothes in his closet right now are just sizes 0-3 months! I have purged all the newborn stuff & am about to add in 3-6 months! Where on earth will I put it all!

This wooden painted sign is from our great friends back in Pensacola, Eric & Kristen Smith. Well...really this particular gift is from Eric. Kristen got me my favorite Petunia Pickle Bottom :) diaper bag & hosted my Pensacola baby shower. So Eric saw this plaque a few years ago when we were struggling to get pregnant & the whole world started praying. He told Kristen he had to get that for us. He just knew our prayers would be answered & I would be pregnant one day. Of course, at the time he couldn't buy it because he wouldn't know what color scheme to get, girl? or boy? He took note of the company & once I was preggers, ordered it for us. When I opened this at my shower & read the note Eric wrote on the package for us telling this story I cried & so did everyone else! He's so thoughtful!

I love that verse in the green, Luke 2:40.

Random...but that box of size 3 diapers is not what Colt is wearing, he's in 1's. But I bought those because I got a $20 box of diapers for $12.50 by using 3 different coupons at Publix! I love beating their high price system...buy it on sale & use coupons at the same time!

This picture is to show the room darkening shade we got recently. Colton was not napping is well as I would like so my brother suggested making the room darker. Well...I ran right out to Wal-mart & for $30 got one of these plastic old timey shades. :) It sure did the trick though! This shade is supposed to roll up when I don't want to look at it, but it's a little ghetto & doesn't cooperate in that way. :) But I don't really ever need it up anyways b/c the only time Colt is in there is when he's sleeping.

Changing table area & our picture frame with 12 bubbles. We are taking a picture of Colton each time he turns another month old. By 12 months we'll have this frame full of his progression from 1 month to 12 months!

His 1st & 2nd month pics. Just slightly chubbier in that 2nd month! :)

I wanted pictures of Ryan & I as kids in Coltons room so we can see who he is looking like as he grows. This is Ryan at 2 yrs old. Isn't he adorable!

This is me at 2 yrs old.

So the main reason I really liked this room theme was not only the color scheme but the tree idea the interior decorator had. This is a family tree. My wonderful cousins Dawn & Savannah Morris and Terri Bain came up one weekend & painted this for me. A friend of my brothers, Richard Worth, drew it out & the cuz's painted it. I LOVE how it turned out! They were all so sweet to help me out with this.

So in the trunk is a frame to look like a knot in the tree. This is the center of Coltons family tree, Ryan & I.

On the left side of the tree you have Coltons Mimi & Paw Paw Key (Butch & Bev).

Then, you have Coltons Uncle Chad & Aunt Christi (Prissy) :) Key. Now that Christi's pregnant with Lindsey, we'll have to change out their photo soon to include her. :)

This is Uncle Jared, who one day will have to get his pictured changed out when we find him a wonderful Christian girl to marry! :)

On the right side of the tree trunk is this empty frame. This frame will have a picture of Coltons Grandpa Hinote (my dad, Andy) & his Heavenly Grandma Hinote (my mom, Barbie). Since Colton won't get to meet my Mom until he gets to Heaven I wanted to be sure he knew her. That is why this family tree idea was my favorite! It allowed me to incorporate my mom so Colton would "know" her. I don't have a digital version of a picture of my parents so that's why I don't have one in there yet. I am going home this weekend & will hunt for one that I can scan to put in here.

Then, you have my Aunt Holly & Uncle Kevbo (Kevin) :). Cousin Eli should be in this picture, but I need to get one of the 3 of them.

Uncle Jerry (Jeremy) :), Aunt Lauren & Cousin Mason hang here & that completes the family tree! If I were to continue to branch out amongst great grandparents, great aunts, uncles etc etc...if you know my family you know that would take up the whole nursery! So..I had to draw the line. :)

Just a few other snapshots of the room...this is a drawer full of hats! I LOVE putting cute hats on Colton..I have to take advantage of it while I can! Before long, he'll be able to pull it off or cry when I put it on.

His cousins blessed him with LOTS of socks!

And SHOES!

Oh MY! And YES..he has worn a bunch of them.

And I couldn't leave out his awesome pair of cowboy boots Auntie Brooke got him. He's gonna' love these! I hope he is like most boys who love their cowboy boots & want to wear them with everything! even shorts! I'd let him! That's adorable to me.

This is a precious, precious, gift from my co-worker, Katie Calhan. She found out my pantone colors for Colts room & got matching paint & painted this little rocking chair for him! She did an awesome job! It looks so cute in his room & he will love this. I remember loving Grandma & Grandpa Hinotes olive green rocking chair like this one!

Talk about attention to detail! How cute is this sweet note on the bottom!

For now, this is who uses his rocking chair. :) His cool & so cute Koala Bear back pack from Australia! Ryans cousin Garrett lives over there & sent this to Colt. I love that the little Koala even comes out so he can play with it!

Well, that's all for now! I still have to hang some more stuff on the walls & get letters spelling COLTON to put on top of his white bookshelf. I'll post when that is up! Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took me months to get this posted.

~Happy Mom

I'm a MOM & LOVING IT!!!

2010-01-14T18:34:00.009-06:00

I'm baaacccckkkkkkk! So it's been 3 months since I last posted...which was pretty much when I started getting put in & out of the hospital with high blood pressure during my pregnancy. I think it ended up being a total of FOUR hospital stays :( but they were just being safe. The Dr's were worried I would become preeclamptic at any moment...and at 37 weeks that's exactly what I did! So..they induced & I had Colton Christopher Key, Saturday, 11-14-09 via c-section :(. Coltons heartrate kept dropping as they gave me pitosin...after 3 attempts they declared a c-section was necessary for the safety of him. So like 15 minutes later I was being wheeled back for surgery! Come to find out the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck so it was tightening with each contraction causing his heartrate to drop. NO WORRIES though...no damage was done to Colton...he is PERFECT!!! He was born 5 lbs. 10.8 oz, 19 3/4 inches long. Dropped to his lowest weight of 4 lbs 15oz as I tried to breastfeed but learned I have skim milk. After going full formula he now at 2 months (today) he weighed 10lbs. 6oz & 22 inches long!!! Yowza's! I'm getting a chunker on my hands. He is only in the 25th percentile but that's just because he got a slow start...he's healthy & growing as needed. Well I started back to work on Monday after 8 weeks off. I am working part-time from home but still sending Colton to Mimi & Paw Paws so I can actually get work done. :) Mimi decided Coltons curls needed to be tested to see if they could form a mohawk...well they could! No hair products necessary..it stood right up & stayed that way all throughout church lastnight too! So cute ! See him below & how similar he looks to a Cupie Doll.

This shot was Paw Paws idea... he wanted to put him in hunting boots to see if he would fit. Along with the caption, " I was excited when I thought I was gonna' go huntin' with Uncle Jared, but I couldn't get the other boot on... oh well, one day I will!

Uncle Jared & his sleeping huntin' buddy... Lil' C.

Mimi talks to me & I coo & smile at her.

Daddy & Me

Where we goin' mom?

Mommy takes me everywhere..I am good sport though!

Uncle Jared fed me??? Can you believe it??? He did a great job!

Mimi & I talking away..

Paw Paw feeds me too!

I like my paci...but mommy wishes I would just suck my thumb like she did that way she doesn't have to keep putting that paci back in my mouth! :) I am workin' on it...If the paci isn't around I usually find my fingers..mostly my whole hand. ;)

All ready for the mall with mommy & daddy...

Well..that's all for now...thanks for checkin' on us...

~New Mommy

In Memory of My Mom...

2009-10-13T22:39:00.000-05:00

As most of you know I lost my mom 6 months after I got married, January 17th 2004. It was sudden, as she had a brain aneurysm. I decided recently I wanted a "button" on my blog in memory of my mom. Some of you might have noticed it on the right side of my page. A fellow blogger, http://tealesdigidesigns.blogspot.com/ & Faulkner University Alumni, Teale, does blog "facelifts". She created my cool button & it was ONLY $8!!! Check out her blog to see more of her work. The inspiration for my button goes a little something like this...

A couple months ago I was headed home from a work appointment & as I pulled into the driveway a song came on that I recognized. The voice sounded like my mom's and that intrigued me even more. I parked the car in the drive, sat & listened. Tears began to stream down my face as this voice sounded just like hers coming through my radio. As I sat listening trying to figure out who this womans voice is that sounds so much like my mom's singing voice, I realized what the words were saying & began to ball.

"Sitting with Mama alone in her bedroom

She opened her eyes, and then squeezed my hand

She said, I have to go now, my time here is over

And with her final word, she tried to help me understand

Mama whispered softly, Time will ease your pain

Life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same

And she said, How can I help you to say goodbye?

It's OK to hurt, and it's OK to cry

Come, let me hold you and I will try

How can I help you to say goodbye?"

WOW! It's like my mom was looking down from Heaven comforting me, letting me know it was OK to cry after 5 years of passing. At the end of the song the DJ made note that Patty Loveless was the singer! I then realized my mom had sang that song before. For years she sang at different church gatherings, whether it be the church Christmas party, someones funeral, or a duet with Corky Berry or Brent Missildine. I remember her rehearsing at home (sometimes w/ a Karaoke machine) :) and I would just sit there & listen OR harmonize along with her. The fact that I could so vividly remember her singing this song, "How Can I Help You to Say Goodbye," makes me think this was one of those rehearsed songs.

My favorite line out of the whole song is "Life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same." Ryan & I have had our hardships through our 6 years of marriage...me having a blood clot 4 months after marriage, then to learn that I will be medicated for life to be sure I don't have another blood clot... my mom passing 6 months after marriage, me having anxiety attacks after dealing with this, trying to start our family to learn I have endometriosis & then it takes us 3 1/2 to 4 years and In-Vitro to finally get pregnant(in the meantime I am depressed & avoid people with children or who are pregnant)... I have a 2nd blood clot, which then requires I wear a compression stocking on my left leg everyday for the rest of my life...we find out Ryan's mom has cancer (which she's currently being treated for)...through all this Ryan has been my best friend & Rock of a husband. I CANNOT imagine going through any of this without HIM. We didn't have a clue this was ahead of us when we tied the knot...but it doesn't matter, we would have still chosen one another to go through it together. I thank God for him daily!

I say all this to say, Life is about change...but it's your choice whether or not you stick with it or give up! The easy route is to give up...if we would have given up, I wouldn't be 7 months pregnant with a little boy right now! Whatever it is you might be going through...know that someone else out there has gone through that or worse. Know...there is a time for everything...it's just in God's time...Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I am grateful I got that moment that day, in the car, radio on, hearing what sounded like my mom singing...

And there came the inspiration for my "blog button" in memory of my Mom.

Back from the Bahamas BABYMOON!!!

2009-09-17T00:53:00.000-05:00

So...here is the blog post you have all been waiting for :) Pictures from Babymoon '09!!! I've received numerous request to hurry up & post these things...but it still took me a little longer than I wanted. So sorry. Let me begin by saying we had the BEST time. This was without a doubt a true vacation! I told Ryan I think for now on whether or not we have cell phone reception or internet access(cause we had neither in the Bahamas) while on vacation we should act like we don't have it! I honestly believe that is what made this trip the most relaxing. We both have cell phones that are our work/home/personal phone...so between texting, checking emails & talking...we can never get rid of them! Now...on to the good stuff! Pictures!!!

Our room was more than we expected. Winning a free trip you tend to expect to get a mediocre room. We had a King size bed (thankfully! since that's what we're used to at home), a big jacuzzi tub, somewhat of an ocean view, & a stocked fridge! It took us 3 days to figure out that we could drink anything in that fridge for FREE b/c it's an all inclusive resort! As much as pregnant Kelly wanted those little cans of orange juice late at night each night, I kept avoiding them b/c I figured they cost like $5 each! Once we talked with the folks across the hall from us they assured us that fridge was free for the taking. So..you better believe we drank up some bottled water & orange juice from then on out! Ryan enjoyed the balcony where he could read his Bible each morning as he waited for me to wake up. :)

This is the view from our room...the picture is a little foggy because my camera went from a cold a/c room to the balcony & the contrast in hot & cold fogged my lense. Didn't realize that until later.

Yes!...that is a VIRGIN Strawberry Daiquiri. All drinks, food, everything is included so we drank up those virgin drinks. Everytime I would ask for one the worker would then ask Ryan if he was sure he wanted his virgin too? They thought I just wasn't "drinking" b/c I was pregnant, but we soon informed them we just don't "drink" period. That was a little mind boggling for them! :)

Virgin, pina-colada, daiquri for Rino as he chills on the beach...

We quickly realized the place to be was Sandals Cay Island. You could stay at the resort & swim in the "party" pool or the relaxing quiet pool or walk a few feet to the shoreline OR take the boat 5 minutes straight out from the resort to Sandals Cay Island. We road the boat over the first day to check it out. OH MY WORD...talk about heaven on earth! There was a pool if you wanted that, a restaurant, hammocks, tiki huts, & a never ending view of the ocean! We literally went over everyday to this island. The boat left the resort dock every hour. We would get up about 9am, throw our bathing suits on & head to our favorite, a breakfast buffet. Then we would be out to the pier by 10 or 11 to catch the boat over. We would stay on the island until the last boat returned at 4:45 each day. The island was so quiet & breezy....you could lay out & not even sweat! That's a big deal! (that's also how you get fried!) :) But we wore sunscreen so we didn't. Below is a view of the island if you are just laying out in a chair.

Me chillin' in a hammock on the Sandals Cay island. Our resort is straight behind me across the water. So you can see the island is not far from the actual resort.

This is one of the wooden hut thingy's you could lie under. If we were getting too much sun for one day we would relocate to one of these & play yahtzee or cards. :) Oh...or sleep..as Ryan is doing below. :)

The view from our "hut" thingy. :)

Then, each day we would clean up for supper & dress a little snazzy. After supper we would wander around...go to the pier to watch the sunset or chill out in these cool couch things overlooking the ocean.

My Ryan is SO FINE! :) He is just so handsome here!

Me in my "Pea In a Pod" shirt my husband so sweetly surprised me with prior to our trip! :)

I love him! So precious!

One of the many sunsets we saw...beautiful! Thank you God for that beautiful picture is what I always say.

A couple of nights they had a saxophone player. He would be out by the shore where those cool couch things were. So we would sit out there & listen to him play. It was so nice.

Reading!!!! My favorite! :) I decided to move my chair real close to the water so I could get wet a little while I read. Ryan thought it was a crazy idea until other people started doing the same thing! :)

Ryan & I LOVE to snorkel. We heard if you took the snorkel excursion that there were jellyfish:(

So, we decided to buy some snorkel gear at the giftshop (which cost us a small fortune) & see if there was any good snorkeling off our island. We found an awesome reef with some incredible fish. At first we had only bought 1 snorkel set b/c they were so expensive. So we were taking turns skoping out the reef. For those of you who think I am a daredevil (Butchly-my father-in-law) we found something other than crickets & grasshoppers that I am afraid of. :) I DON'T like to snorkel by myself. Ryan kept making fun of me b/c I wouldn't go look at certain parts of the reef b/c I was by myself. So...we opted to buy another set of snorkel gear so we could swim around together. :) I just felt 4 eyes would be better than 2 in case there was a shark or something that wanted to eat me.

The Snorkel Queen :-)

This picture is after dinner one evening as the sun was setting. One cool feature this resort had were "photoshop" photographers walking around ready to take every couples picture. They would take the picture for free & give you a waterproof bracelet thing to hold on to. You would at the end of the day go by the "photoshope" to look at your pictures. You would then tell them your likes & dislikes. They would save a file of your photos & at the end of the trip you decide which ones you want to buy. So, $90 later, we got a CD of 8 pictures & the rights to print them. It was nice, because otherwise your holding out your camera (see pic above) trying to get a good picture. Or...you had to ask people constantly to take your pic.

One day I got a little too much sun on my back so we decided the next day would be a good day to take a journey to Atlantis. You could pay $19 one way via a taxi or take the #10 bus. There was a #10 bus pulled up every 7 minutes in front of our resort. So...we took the cheaper option of course. The bus had a/c & basically stopped along at each resort as it headed to downtown Nassau. So eventually we had a bus full of tourist all headed to the Straw Market or Atlantis. It took us about 30 minutes to get to downtown Nassua where you get off at the Straw Market. You walk through the Straw Market which we didn't really care about...it had knock off purses, t-shirts, bahamas souvenirs the locals had made et etc. So we just walked directly through it to get to the water where our ferry boat was. We paid about $12 for a roundtrip ticket for two on the ferry boat. The boat was run by locals who weren't on ANY kind of schedule! They were bound & determined to fit as many people on that boat before they left ($$$$$). SO..we sat on the boat sweltering until it was full. As we sit there I was dying of thirst & I look across the street & there was a STARBUCKS! I couldn't believe it! I didn't know the Bahamas had Starbucks! But...we were on the boat & couldn't get off...so my mouth just had to water. :( Once the ferry dropped us off down the water a ways..about a 15 minute ride, we got off & had to walk a couple blocks to actually get to Atlantis. I decided at this point we should have just taken the stinkin' taxi & paid $40 round trip! :) I wore my 100% cotton dress & flip flops on purpose since it was the coolest thing I owned. I later decided I should have just worn my bathing suit! Once we got closer to the hotel you have to stroll through a cute shopping village to get to the Atlantis. Well lo' & behold there was ANOTHER Starbucks! I high tailed it in there where I immediately plopped myself down to cool off. Ryan stood in line to buy me a water which I guzzled down! THEN the UNKNOWN happened!!! I heard a noise...I thought I recognize that sound...what IS THAT?! OH! It was a CELL PHONE! It had been only like 2 days with no phone service & it hit me then how wonderful that was! That cell phone ring made me cringe. You don't realize at home how everywhere you go you hear a phone ringing or someone is texting or checking FB or their email etc etc.... until you are away from it all. That's when the realization of technology sinks in...it has perks but it has it's downfalls too.

The below picture is a cool piece of art in the Atlantis lobby. That hotel is just neat in & of itself.

We really like snorkeling & I really like aquariums/water life in general I guess. I really wanted to go to the aquarium but it was outrageously priced of course...and then as we walked through the Atlantis we noticed it had it's own aquarium as decoration which was FREE! :) That suited us just fine! People were actually snorkeling in this tank...they had some really cool stuff in there.

I had decided we had too many "posed" smiling pictures...we needed something more light hearted...so here ya' go! :)

After we took ourselves on a tour of the hotel we left & were ready to eat lunch. We had intended to eat at The Atlantis until we asked at the desk & only people staying there are allowed. :( So..our only options were the places in the shopping village on our way out. So..Johnny Rockets it is! Honestly we were excited to eat at a chain restaurant, completely American. :) While eating our hamburger & fries the oldies music gets turned up real loud all of a sudden! It was R-E-S-P-E-C-T & the WHOLE STAFF, cooks & all, started a dancing routine! It was SO FUN! Some kids who were there stood up & started dancing in line with the workers..it was so cute! We were SO impressed with that! We asked the manager on the way out when they would do another one & he said, "oh! you want another? we'll do it right now!" SO...there they went again to a different oldies song & had a totally different routine! We couldn't believe it! They had to practice to all be n' sync how they were! We gave him props & told him we didn't think they did that in Alabama. But that they should if they don't!

After riding back over on the ferry this time we did go to that Starbucks to get a cool beverage... I was awfully sweaty at this point!

Ryan didn't know when he married me that I was a pool shark. :) We randomly decided to play one evening after dinner & I wooped him! We ended up playing a lot after that..we're both slightly competitive. So we had an ongoing competition. It started out with me in the lead 5 - 2! Ryan would scratch on the 8 ball & lose etc etc. :) THEN...as we continue to battle throughout the week he ends up winning overall, 7 -5! Yes, I ended up scratching on the 8 ball at one point too!

We also played ping-pong a lot...which we were neck in neck with that too..Ryan accredits my success to my long arms snagging the most random shots! :) In the end...he beat me overall AGAIN! When the pool tables or ping-pong tables were occupied we would play checkers...which I upfront admitted I was awful at!

Those lovely photographers practically did a whole maternity shoot this particular evening. We ended up buying a lot of these shots.

LIMBO KING! Ryan got called up to help the Limbo King in his show. Each night they had different entertainment you could go watch if you wanted...we thought this one was fun.

Do you see Limbo King on his stomach going under that pole with fire! Crazy!

Ryan reading his book Point Man, which is a great book he LOVES & has already read once about the man being the leader of his household. He's getting ready for being a Daddy. :)

This day the water was a little rough. We eventually got in to cool off but not for long!

Since the last boat came back from the island each day at 4:45 we weren't ready to go in since the sun was still shining. So..we would pick a pool to lay out at.

Waiting to get on the boat to head back to the resort...

One of the restaurants you could choose from was a Japanese Steakhouse...it was fun! We sat with 3 other couples who were all on their honeymoon. :) We were the 6 year veterans!

Reading in this comfy chair thing out on the island. The grayish spots on the side of my belly are from where I give my Lovenox(blood thinner) shots twice a day. Didn't want ya'll to think Colton is kicking me that hard! :-)

If you are standing our Sandals Cay Island & looked straight out then you would see these 2 itty bitty islands. That first one had 1 lonely tiki hut on it...we decided to swim over there one day. About half way there you could walk it was so shallow!

Another "photoshop" photography picture...

Look at that preggers belly!!!

Just a shot of one of the pool areas at night...really neat looking.

The "wet bar" literally! All the pools had these in them..you could swim right up & ask for a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri..how convenient!

Another view of a pool...

We were taking pictures of one another while at the island :)

Pregnant Mama...

AHHHHH! Wasn't expecting that water to crash up on me like that! Thing is...Ryan saw it coming & was obviously awaiting this moment with the camera in hand! :)

Then, a sweet woman who I had seen lying out topless earlier in the day, yes topless, came over & offered to take our picture together. Thankfully...she had her top on! :)

The view of the Atlantis hotel from our island.

There was a pizzeria where you could just walk up from the pool & order your personal pizza, come back in 15 minutes & it would be ready. You are probably thinking all 3 of those are for Ryan...but NO 2 of the 3 were for ME! Since I can't eat wheat (get migraines) I can't eat that crust. SO...I ordered 2 pizzas since all I would be eating was the cheese & toppings! They were SOOOOO good too!

Surprise, surprise...I am reading again! This time, The 5 Love Languages! The BEST book EVER for your marriage or any struggling relationship! Ryan & I were sharing this book but he ended up with it most of the time. SO..I finally got my hands on it! That book is my new gift to all newlyweds now...and has already made a huge difference in our marriage! It's the simplest concept, but makes all the difference in the world when applied. Okay..enough on my commercial for that book. :)

Another cool fountain at the resort & statue thingy's...

This is what happens when you ask Ryan to do something silly with the lion statue...

A view of part of the resort from the 4th floor lobby where are room was.

Our last night at the resort...a little tanner than when we arrived I think :)

AND a Message from Colton... :)

Colton Loves the Bahamas (in case you can't read it)

Acceptance speech :)
THANK YOU TO TAMMY, THE PRESIDENT OF PERFECT WEDDING GUIDE, WHO GOT THE SALES CONTEST GOING TO REWARD US SALES FOLKS AND MADE SURE THIS TRIP HAPPENDED! WE APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH! MY BOSS STEPHANIE KEITH-WHITAKER FOR #1 HIRING ME & #2 BEING AN AWESOME ENCOURAGER TO HELP ME WIN THAT CONTEST! MY CO-WORKER KATIE BURKS-CALHAN WHO IS A GREAT TEAMMATE & MAKES MY JOB EASIER BECAUSE OF HER HARD WORK! AMY WITH TRAVEL BY HORIZON WHO DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF HANDLING ALL OUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS WHICH MADE IT THAT MUCH MORE RELAXING! BROOKE WILLIAMS FOR TAKING US TO THE AIRPORT THAT EARLY!!! MORNING, THEN GOING HOME THINKING SHE CAN GO BACK TO BED...BUT NO, SHE JUST HAD TO GO BACK TO OUR HOUSE TO GET MY PASSPORT THAT WAS NOT EXPIRED & THEN HEADED BACK UP TO THE AIRPORT TO BRING IT TO ME! WHAT A FRIEND! AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...MY HUSBAND, RYAN. YOU CAN'T DO YOUR JOB WELL WITHOUT THE SUPPORT & ENCOURAGEMENT OF YOUR MATE. HE ALWAYS HAD POSITIVE WORDS TO GIVE! ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I LOVE HIM!

We're goin' 2 the Bahamas! & Our NEW Shower!!!

2009-08-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

We're going on a BABYMOON!!!!

In one week, YES we will be laying out by THAT pool!!! We are going for an 8 day, 7 night, stay to the all-inclusive, Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort! Even better...IT'S FREE!!! Last November I won the Superstar Sales contest for my work, Perfect Wedding Guide. PWG is in 60 cities across the U.S. therefore the contest was divided into different categories. Bigger market category sales people competed against one another, medium market against one another & so on. You basically had like 4 months to get the most sales "contracts" in your category. So...I found out in November that I had one in my category!!! The original reward was take $1000 or a 4-night, 3-day Caribbean Cruise. Well...I LOVE To travel so I decided I wanted the cruise. I also knew that if we got that money it would go towards bills :) & we NEEDED a vacation. Our vacation the past 2 years has been bible camp counselors. Fun...but not relaxing. Since it took a while for them to get the winner voucher to me they decided to extend it to an 8-day, 7-night Caribbean cruise! Wow..it got even better...just for being patient. :) Well...it then took a long time to get this trip redeemed. So...literally, 2 weeks ago it all fell into place! Well...you cannot take a cruise 24 weeks pregnant or after. I am 24 weeks pregnant today! So...the travel agent said they had an even better option for me. That's when they offerred the 8-day, 7-night stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian All-Inclusive Resort! I of course jumped on that offer! Originally we were supposed to have to pay for our flight to the port if we were going on a cruise. But, since it was out of my control & they didn't get that lined up in time the president of PWG decided to put a chunk of change towards our airline tickets! Yay! So...all in all we made out pretty sweet! We fly out next Wednesday & return the following Wednesday. When we arrive in the Bahamas a car will be waiting for us to take us to the resort. Once we are there we don't tip a single person, or pay for a single thing! Even most excursions are included! We are thrilled to just get-a-way one last time before our little Colton arrives in November/December. Everyone has said this is such a blessing to be able to do this...because after you have the kiddo planning a get-a-way, especially this long, just get's more complicated. I knew that & was adamant this trip would happen one way or another prior to Colton coming. :) Good thing I am stubborn! :) (see Ryan..it's a good thing sometimes) ;) Not a honeymoon...but a Babymoon....here we come!!!

SENOR ANDY :) finishes remodeling our master bathroom!!!

His last week to work at our house he showed up with this sombrero on. Ryan walks out of the bathroom & there's my dad sitting on the couch in this hat! LOL!!! Since my Aunt Janet is an avid "garage seller" he had her hunting for one for a while for this occasion. We had been calling him Senor Andy for his manual labor. I would write on my magnetic magnadoodle on the fridge, "Welcome Senor Andy!" :)

So...my AWESOME DAD, Handy Andy, can do ANYTHING he puts his mind to. He LOVES to stay busy & since he retired not too long ago he offered to remodel our half bath into a master bathroom for us. We were saving up to pay a company to do it but that was going to take forever to save that much. SO...Andy saves the day!!! He did the plumbing (his 1st time) which meant lot's of time under our house in the crawl space. (but I hear we have very clean crawl space thanks to whoever lived here before us!) He did the wiring for lights, venilation fans etc. He did the painting, framing, tiling, install of toilet, installed a new window...should I stop now? :) HE DID IT ALL HIMSELF! He started in February of this year & finished in July. He lives in Pensacola, FL so he would come work for a week then go home for a week. Sometimes he stayed away even longer, such as to go to bible camp in SC to be SWAT crew or to take a trip out to Utah to see my sister...etc, etc. (I wonder where I get my love for traveling from?) :)

The below photo is as you walk from our master bedroom straight into the mstr bathroom.

This is the floor of our shower. The tile on the floor, ceiling, trimming out the door opening, & window is all slate. I had found the wall tile & was trying to pick out an accent tile & my dad pointed to the slate at Don's Carpet & Tile & I said, "oh...yeah...I like that. That's what I want!" My dad could NOT believe I liked something he liked. :) (He thinks my taste is wild & crazy most of the time). He really, really, agrees now that the slate was the best choice b/c it just makes everything pop! Didn't he do an awesome tiling job! This was his first time to tile a shower. He has tiled plenty of floors...but no showers. He's a perfectionist...so I trusted him completely. :)

This is the ceiling of the shower. That recessed light is actually our venilation fan also! Instead of having a seperate fan you can buy these (not cheap) lights with fans in them. It's the quietest fan I have ever heard, but still does the job! Would highly recommend one! We have another one in the little room with the toilet.

This view is if you were stepping out of the shower into the vanity part of the bathroom. (I showed the vanity in a past post..so I didn't put those pic's on here). Right now, we don't have a shower door because we just haven't ordered it yet. BUT...we still use the shower with no problems! It's so big the water just barely splatters out onto the rug outside the shower door! Who knows..we might stay "doorless" :)

Shower head :)..in case you couldn't tell. :) And my little corner shelves. That one is Ryan's & I have my own too.

Frosted window my dad installed (previous window was old & clear w/ blinds because remember...this whole shower was a half bath all of it's own. It had a sink & toilet in it. That WAS our master bath. Not so "master" huh?

Just another view of window where you can see slate around door opening.

My towel bar :)...I got this actually to use as my "rag" bar. The tile folks were making fun of me & how I called it a "rag" instead of a wash cloth. :) I guess AL has worn off on me more than I thought after 6 years!

Other corner of the shower with my corner shelf.

My dad just did an incredible job! We are SO THANKFUL to him for all his hard work! Talk about manual labor! Don't you see why we called him Senor Andy! :)

Now onto my preggers self! The picture below was taken, Monday, August 3rd after I got my hair highlighted. She decided to straighten it as she does periodically. This time after straightening it she curled the ends a little. It was fun! I didn't wash my hair for 3 days so I could keep it like this. :) I was 22 1/2 weeks pregnant here.

Here's the front view of preggers! (no..I don't have a bad tan on my left leg..that's my "ho" aka: ted hose. The one that keeps my circulation going so I don't have another blood clot) :)

Saturday, August 1st, some of my family came to stay the night. They arrived to Bham about 5:30 so we met them at Cracker Barrel for dinner. (if you know my dad & grandparents at all...you know they LOVE CB!) After CB we headed to our house to chill out. This is Grandpa Hinote "chillin' out" :). He is my Dad's, dad. My dad lives a mile and a quarter down the road from them. So..we grew up at there house ALOT! Still go over there ALOT. :)

Grandpa Hinote, my 1st cousin Ashlyn Rhodes & my dad.

As I like to call her, "My Fun Aunt". :) This is Aunt Janet. She is one of my dad's sisters. She is actually going to be moving in with my dad once she sells her house. They are traveling buddies. She & I went to NYC a few weeks before my wedding in 2003 to see my sister up there. She'll do anything & will travel anywhere...yet again...I wonder why I love to travel? :) Apparently most of my family does! :)

Me, my "will do anything for you Aunt, Becky Rhodes" & best cook ever Grandma Hinote. Becky is my dad's youngest sister. (he is one of 5) They all just stayed one night because they were passing through to Huntsville for my Aunt Zelma's 100th birthday party! I couldn't go with them the next day b/c my work had it's annual bridal show.

My Aunt Janet needed to go to the mall to get a gift for the 100th bday the next day. So we did take a little adventure trip to the mall about 8:00pm! Me, Aunt Janet, Aunt Becky & Ashlyn. While in the mall Janet decided she needed something sweet...like a cinnamon roll. I was craving something sweet too! So..first we went to Starbucks b/c Ashlyn wanted that, so her & Becky got Starbucks. Then, we headed over to Krispy Creme in place of a cinnamon roll (because what cinnamon roll place is open at 9:15 at night?) :) Well...the "hot donuts" sign was on & that means you get a free glazed donut! That also means there is a long long line inside! So..we decide to go through the drive-thru! Well..what we didn't know was that the drive-thru line was wrapped around the building! So..we waited in line for like oh...20 minutes! But ended up with 1 dozen glazed donuts & 1 dozen chocolate covered donuts! We ended up getting home at 10pm with Dad, Grandpa, Grandma & Ryan waiting up for donuts. :) I can't have wheat so no donuts for me...my "donuts" were peanut butter m&m's. :) Colton liked those.
It was great to have them! So glad it worked out for them to stay a night with us!

Just wanted you to see our funny dog. The only time he is allowed in the house now is when it storms. He is honestly fine when it storms, he doesn't bark or anything we just like to bring him on for those random times. :) So...the below picture is of Ryan's desk. My desk is off to the right. Heisman will just lie in the middle of the floor while we work. Just as long as he is near us he is content. Well..it stops storming & so Ryan tells Heisman to get up & come outside. :) ha!ha! it's not that easy. So...as Ryan tries to coerce him outside Heisman finds that he can lay under Daddy's chair & we can't really "get" him. :) Lab's are so smart!

Please look at our 90lb., 20 month old dog under this chair! He looks like Goliath! Hularious!

This past weekend we went home to Pensacola, FL for my home church's annual youth rally Conquerors. I have been teaching the teenage girls class there for years. It was a fun but busy weekend. Some exciting news is that my Best Friend Lori Beth Presley-Walker just so happened to be in town that weekend too! :) We haven't seen one another in probably over 6 months. So we were able to spend all of Friday evening together & a little time Saturday evening. This picture was taken at McDonald's :)...it was McFlurry time for Kelly & cone time for Lori! I hated to have to leave her but hopefully I'll see her at Christmas since we'll be in FL for that.

Well...that's my updates for now. My brother & his family are coming in town tonight. Jeremy is a youth minister at Central church of Christ in August, GA. He is bringing his youth group down to Gardendale, AL for a youth rally. So, they'll stay with us tonight & we'll keep my almost 2yr old nephew, Mason, :) tomorrow. My dad will be getting here in the morning so he can visit with his Grandson too! They all head back on Sunday. So..we'll begin packing for the Bahamas!!!! I'll try to post our weekend with fam' before the Bahamas!

See ya' soon...Kel

Our past 2 weekends at Da' Farm

2009-07-28T21:21:00.000-05:00

The past two weekends have been spent relaxing at Da' Farm. Ryan's Grandma Key's parents had a house on 100 acres in Moulton/Cullman area of AL. When they passed the land was passed on to Grandma/pa Key. Granddaddy Key used to raise cattle there himself but hasn't in awhile. The original house was torn down & a mobile home was the replacement. There are a few ponds on the property, some cow's (because they lease the property to cow owners) & lot's of Dove's which the Keys fella's used to go & Dove hunt. Two weekends ago August 18th wkend all 10 of us were up there, plus 3 dogs. We had a blast! Below are lot's of photos of our weekend together.

Let's begin with our Lab Heisman...he of course is a natural born swimmer. He swims & swims & swims in that pond until he is just completely worn out! This trip my father-in-law brought the 4 wheeler up & Heisman likes to run after it. He had two trips all over the property running after the 4 wheeler. Each trip he came back with cow manuer on him. He likes to rub himself in other animals "stuff". YUK! As you see below...

We were able to do LOT'S of fishing which I LOVED! My favorite part of going up there. Jared caught the bass on the left. I caught the one on the right. (you can't see me b/c I was getting my preggo belly tanned as I fished & you don't want to see my cool outfit I was wearing!) :)

Jared & Ryan & some of the fishies we caught!!!

Look at our sweet boy! Isn't he precious! (notice no manuer...all it took was a little dip in the pond) :)

A view across the pond over to a cow pasture...

The mobile home where we crash & the pier onto the pond. Mama Key, Butchly & Heisman were chillin' under the umbrella while Ryan & I were out in the boat fishing.

We are in the boat & Heisman wanted to be too! SO...he swims out to us! Crazy dog!

Me, Ryan & Heisman out in the boat just a fishin'!

Sunday after church we had a little photo shoot. :) Chad & Christi look so cute here!

Wow...I can't say the same about Ryan & I! What is he doing..dragon boy!

Much better... :)

These boys...still silly even though they're in their 30's!

Don't ask me what's going on here :)

Da' Ladies...

Mama Key, Me, Aunt Carol, Christi & Grandma Key

Da' Boyz...

Jared, Grandaddy Key, Butchly, Ryan & Chad(these 2 being silly again!)

What handsome fella's!

The Key fam' has learned to love my spontaneity. :) ha!ha! This particular weekend was when the humidity was low & it felt so cool all weekend. So...having a bonfire came to mind! :) There was already a spot where they burn all we needed was some firewood. I went on the hunt & found lot's of twigs & then went on the hunt for a saw. No saw...so we Ryan got the 4 wheeler & we picked up branches etc lying around to form our fire. Luckily a tree had fallen in a storm & we were able to get some good sized logs. This idea hit me as it was getting dark so we had to hurry to get our "goods" together. But we managed & had a great time! We ended up singing church hymms & devo songs out under the stars...just like bible camp! :) (I really wanted smores but I didn't plan in advance)

Ryan was "practicing" his song leading. :)

Heisman was just slightly exhausted! So he slept through the singing.

Our sunburned selves at the bonfire.

The fam' at the fire..

Thank you God for that beautiful picture! I just love a good sunset!

Heisman visiting his cow friends. :) The calfs where funny...they would actually approach him when the biggin' cows could care less what Heisman was doing.

Jared, Ryan & I went out on the John boat to fish. Well..after I missed about 10 fish, Jared decided he needed to remind me to "set the hook" :). I would get so excited I would just let that sucker nibble & take off! I finally got it down pat though..I was just a little rusty!

Butchly & Grandaddy taking the tractor out.

Christi fishing...

Then...her lil' buddy, Heisman comes to visit.

This is typical Heisman on our way back from the farm...he sleeps the whole hour & half home then get's home & stays asleep for the next day!

The next photos are from our 2nd trip to the farm. This was last weekend (July 26th weekend, mine & Ryan's 6th anniversary!) This trip wasn't everyone, it was Mama Key, Butchly, Ryan, Me, Heisman & my Dad. We always talk about the farm but he has never been. We decided since he's worked so hard remodeling our mstr bath..he deserved a relaxing trip away.

I just love this sunset picture of Ryan! He's so HOTTT! :)

Then...there's us...taking a picture of ourselves while on the boat!

Dad & his baby fish he caught. :)

So I have a funny story behind this bass. There's an automatic fish feeder on the pier which goes off at 6:30pm everyday. I wanted to see it go off so I went down there after supper & waited (with my line in the middle of the water where the fish were going to come up for food) :) So sneaky... then the rest of the fam' starts coming down to the pier. I start talking to Butchly telling him I am cheating b/c I am hoping to catch a big bass who comes up to eat the fish food. Well..right as I say that my line starts getting carried out! And I reeled in this big daddy bass!...not really but it's bigger than most the others I caught. THEN the fish feeder goes off! So..really I didn't cheat to get this one! :)

Apparently I didn't get any pictures of any big fish my dad caught. :) Do you think Heisman wants this one? :)

Guess what???? Another bonfire!!! :) This time I came prepared! I brought a bag of marshmallows AND so did Mama Key! So we had plenty! I unwound some coat hangers & we were ready to go! I love a good fire roasted marshmallow!

Yet again...Heisman sleeps through it all.. :)

Visiting the cows again...

Lot's of fishing!!!!

My dad fishing...

Heisman swimming...again... :)

Then..it was dress up Andy time! Since he missed our last photo shoot with the wig...we had to catch him up this time! :) He was a great sport!

Nothing like a wig on a man with a pink scarf! And Butchly's broken reading glasses! :)

Then...with Ryan's Oakleys!

Well..we got back home Sunday night & Heisman went straight to the shed where his Loveseat couch is...and as you can see didn't budge!

These last 2 photos are random from our recent VBS... This is Jake Williams, Ashley & Nolans lil' fella. His lil' smile was just so cute!

Then our most recent lil' fella' at church, Cooper Southern. He was so precious & calm.

Well...our bathroom is officially remodeled & we just set our "free" vacation plans in stone! I'll be posting about that next! Also had my 22 week dr's visit yesterday which went great. No ultrasounds this time. But I measured exactly 22 weeks on exactly my 22 week day. They were happy! Got 6 family members staying with us Saturday night, my works annual bridal show Sunday, & next weekend we head to Pcola so I can teach the teen girls class at their annual Conquerors youth rally. Then, the next weekend my brother & his family come to stay & then we leave for vacation! WOW! Busy times..but fun times!

20 Week Ultrasound Pics & 4th of July Beach Trip!

2009-07-17T17:21:00.000-05:00

Our 20 week appt was this past Thursday, July 16th, & I was literally 20 weeks that day. (yes I am a lil' late getting these on here...sorry Mrs. Brenda..hopefully you're seeing these before your trip to Europe!!!) Our lil' Colton was very cooperative this go around. The nurse immediately confirmed he was still a boy. :) As you can see in the below photo. The angle is as if he were sitting on a piece of glass & the picture is taken from below the glass (for those of you who have a hard time interpreting these pictures). :)

The below picture is his little profile.. & that random circle thing above his nose is not attached :) The nurse said it's just the embilical cord floating around. Thankfully...I thought we were going to have a Rudolph for a second! :)

This picture is pretty cool because you can actually see the lense of his eye! (our friend Dr. Ricky Willams liked this one..since he's an opthomologist) I especially like how his little hand is up on his face.

This is a shot of his lil' hand...

This is pretty wild...if you take both your hands & cup them around your nose & chin like you are about to yell through them...the view you see below is of that view of Colton's face. His nose then above his lip, then the black section is his mouth, then chin area.

A kinda freaky view of our lil' man...there's that eye lense again! He must have some big eyes..I keep seeing that lense! :)

Oh..so precious...a lil' foot. I am seeing some long, french fry toes :) that could be from Mommy or Uncle Jeremy :)

Overall it was a great appointment! They took a look at the 4 chambers of his heart b/c they couldn't get a good view before. Everything was wonderful though! He weighs 12 oz. as much as a can of Coke..but he is as long as a can of Red Bull. :) I go back in another 2 weeks, July 3oth, when I am 22 weeks along. Don't know when to expect another ultrasound...have to wait & see.

Just a quick run through our July 4th festivities! It started July 1st, Wednesday, when we went to Prattville church of Christ for services b/c my brother Jeremy was speaking for their summer series. (granted...thru traffic we didn't make it until the closing prayer) :( But we still got to visit with him & Lauren & some other friends. Below is my bro & his wifey, Jeremy & Lauren Hinote, and Me & my hubby Ryan.

Brent Missildine is the preacher at Prattville & I grew up to his preaching at Scenic Hills church of Christ in Pensacola, FL. So we had a great visit with them also. His wife Lisa & daughters Sarah & Laura are below.

Then we headed to Gulf Shores to stay at the In-Laws timeshare with the fam'. We had a blast! Ate some dinner at Cobalt...Mama Key & Butchly waiting to eat at Cobalt.

The "Key Boys"...Jared, Ryan & Chad. (single girls...Jared's the last "Key" boy available...BUT his sister-in-laws Christi & Kelly have to pass you through a gruesome initiation first) :)

Kelly Key & my wonderful sister-in-law, Christi Stephens Key. She & I spent lot's of time in the pool, along the side with our books on the edge. Although..we never read our books :) we just talked & talked. :) It was great to catch up!

Don't ask me what my hubby is doing here! So silly! :) Gotta' love 'em!

Can I just say..I love to see her laugh like this! Somebody was really funny..I have a feeling it was Butchly.

SO...then..something snapped! ;) She'll probably kill me for putting this on here...but I couldn't pass up the 1 extreme to the other! :) She looks like she is letting someone have it..but we all know that's not true!

Sunset off the deck of the condo...thank you God for that beautiful picture! (of the sunset of course...don't want that to be taken the wrong way...not talking about Ryan & I :-)

Apparently I'm the only one that got the memo to be silly in this shot!

King Mackeral (sp) Ryan caught! I couldn't go on this fishing trip :( they were taking the boat out too far & were afraid it would shake Colton up too much. I thought it would just get him ready early for deep sea fishing? :) I DID get to go out one night with the boys fishing. Jared, Chad, Ryan & I all went out but didn't have much luck. :( Our 3 pounds of shrimp mostly died because we had too much crammed in one container...so our bait shriveled up fast!

Sunset ride in the boat...could ride out there all day & night! Kissy hubby :)

Chad & Christi...so cute!

Kissy Key boys ;)

We take "Key family" photos anytime we're together..this one's cute I think.

Jared, Me (& Colton in my belly), Ryan, Mama Key, Butchly, Christi & Chad

Again..Thank you God for that Beautiful picture!!! Nothin' like watching this as you ride toward it in a boat!

Butch (the captain of our boat) & Bev (our baconator! best bacon cooker ever!) :)

Ryan being silly as always! :) What I love most about him!

Me...being normal :)

Me...being normal.. :) My "other" face shot. :) (yes..Allison Farmer that's your maternity skirt..just the back view) :)

Our Key Fella's

This is the deck of the condo where a bird decided to perch...Christi decides to get her camera & take a picture. Instead of standing back away from the sliding glass door so he won't fly away:) she goes up to the glass to get her photo & he immediately heads off... :) so funny...She at least got this shot!

Mama Key & her two daughters

hmmm..don't ask! :) Butchly decided for some reason :) to try on Christi's bathing suit cover up! Nice huh? (now ya'll know where Ryan get's it from!)

Wow...awesome shot (christi) can't have 4th of July w/o our flag!

Prior to the beach trip we had a 4th of July dinner w/ Grandma/pa Key & Aunt Carol Key. They boys decided to be just that..boys...& pass around Mama Key's wig she has through her chemo treatment. Couldn't pass up showing you these!

Ryan...a little to0 girly for me here....

The glasses are Aunt Carols..which look SO cute on her...not so much on Rino :)

Chad..wow! WE had to add the headband for him...this is too funny! He was fighting us for this shot!

And does Butchly not look like one of the singers in the country group, Alabama? :) Can't remember that guys name..but he looks just like him here!

Next was Grandaddy Key :)...Grandma Key had to get his hearing aid back in as the wig knocked it out. :)

I am sure you got some laughter out of those! I know we had a great time as we always do with his family. This past Saturday & Sunday we spent the weekend all 10 of us (gparents & all) at the Farm in Moulton, AL. Fished tons! It was awesome! And we are going back this weekend... & taking my dad with us this time! I'll post some pics from this past weekend soon! Also...fun note...have an interior decorator/florist, Mandy with Hot House Design Studio coming to the house Tuesday to check out the empty nursery to help me get inspired with my theme/color scheme. Since I work with Perfect Wedding Guide magazine here in Bham, I work with lot's of florist etc. Mandy just so happens to be an interior decorator also & once you see her work www.hothousedesignstudio.com you'll see why I like her style. Those of you who know me will not be surprised I love her work when you see her website. So check it out! You CANNOT live in Birmingham, AL & NOT go to her shop! She has the most interesting, creative gift ideas & decor for your home...on top of being a floral designer! Since this baby has sucked my creative juices out I need her help! :) Once she helps me get my concept down...I'll be rollin' on my own to make it happen! At least I'll be rollin' & not stand still with ideas as I am now! (maybe if I wasn't so picky this wouldn't be a problem. ) :) I'll keep you posted!

19 week Belly photo!!!!

2009-07-13T00:38:00.000-05:00

19 week Belly photo!!!

Yay..I finally took a belly photo! I am going to try to do one each week on Thursday for now on b/c that is my turnover day. This picture was taken last Thursday, July 9th, which was when I was exactly 19 weeks.

This is not a very informative post, I know I still have to post about our July 4th beach trip. Been a little crazy with VBS at church which is tomorrow night through Wednesday night. Also, I know last post I mentioned my next 2 week appt was this Tuesday, July 14th, but I had to change it. So, now it's this Thursday, July 16th, the day I will be 20 weeks. So I'll let you know how that goes. Feeling great in preggo world! I just love this being pregnant stuff!!! Fantabulous!!! :)

The Gender Is...

2009-06-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

It's a BOY!!!

That object the arrow is pointing to are...the goods ;)

Current name idea (NOT set in stone)
Colton Christopher Key
Ryan came up with Colton about a week ago. I really do like it...I just want to keep my options open since we are just finding out what it is. :)

Today I went in for my 17 weeks & 5 day visit. :) 2 weeks ago when I went in they didn't do an ultrasound so I was bummed. But they did enlighten me by telling me they would do one at the next visit. So we have been anxiously awaiting the past 2 weeks. This is my 3rd visit to the Maternal Fetal Specialist at UAB & each visit I have seen a different dr. They are apparently passing me around so that whoever is on call to deliver will be familiar with my case. I am glad because I would like to be familiar with them too! What's crazy is the dr. today was Dr. Davis. 4 years ago when we first decided to start trying I had to go see the specialist at UAB to determine if they thought it was safe for me to have a baby after having a blood clot & having to be on blood thinners for life. Well...I saw Dr. Davis & he took my case before the board of Dr's there at UAB & they collectively decided it was safe! So..that began our journey to this little boy in my belly today. Dr. Davis is now a head dude over the specialist at UAB so I was extra glad to have him see me. He walked in & said..."I was asking why in the world this girl was on so much Lovenox (blood thinner)...BUT then I looked in your file & saw 3 blood clotting factors & previously had 2 blood clots!" He decided it was great news I was on so much blood thinner! :) He was really impressed that everything with my pregnancy is going so smoothly. I am finally gaining weight due to not throwing up so much. So we are on the right track! Our lil' man was very stubborn today & we almost didn't find out he was a "he". :) But Dr. Davis was persistent & jabbed that probe in my stomach right on that boys legs to get them moved..it finally worked! They were already discussing me coming back in 2 weeks & to drink a coke in the waiting room next time so they can get him moving everywhere to see the anatomy. Thankfully...we don't have to wait 2 more weeks! They are going to do another ultrasound then to get all the measurements etc b/c he wasn't cooperating with that either. (sounds like his daddy already!) They said everything looked really good but they will do some of it again next time. That's fine with me I'll take all the ultrasounds I can get!!! :)

Here's his hand...fist clenched

Skull & two hands curled up

I am predicting he has my long legs that take up all of his body like his mommy! That's the reason we couldn't see the anatomy those legs looked all cramped up in there! :) I like this shot of his leg though...so cute!

Ryan & I went to a little shop in Downtown Homewood this afternoon to snag a lil' boy something...just b/c we could! We thought this onesie was perfect! I especially thought so...b/c if I might say so myself...if this boy looks anything like his Daddy or any of the other "Key" boys for that matter, then Chicks will definitely be diggin' him! :)

I got all the boy "stuff" out of the closet & seperated it from the few girl things I have collected over the years...Here's the beginning of his collection. Lastnight Ryan came into our bedroom showing me the Cubs Onsie (I bought like a year ago!) saying, "Awww...look at this..I totally forgot we had this!" I looked at the size & it's 18 months! So it will be a while but he'll eventually get to support daddy's team! That AU outfit...hmmm..I can't tell you how long I have had that! We'll have to get a smaller one for when he comes out of the womb! He is supposed to be here Iron Bowl weekend...

Well...I am thrilled to have a lil' boy to go mud puddling with me & Heisman. I can't wait for him to get here. I am fully convinced now that I am having a baby! :)

We are headed to Gulf Shores on Thursday to the In-Laws timeshare. We CANNOT wait! I am ready to hit up the Juicy Couture outlet to find a Juicy De Baby diaper bag! :) And we are going out on the boat fishing...which I am SO pumped about! I havn't been salt water fishing on a boat ummm...since high school! The rest of the siblings & fam are already there we are the stragglers...I'll have photo's to post when I return!!!!

The Parents Connect 3D Pregnancy Widget

2009-06-17T09:52:00.001-05:00

Baby Names

Names

Pregnancy

15 week Belly Picture!!!

2009-06-09T22:59:00.000-05:00

So...you've probably been wondering when I was going to put a belly pic' on here?!?! Lately I have felt the "I'm not just plump...it's a baby bump" so I guess I got motivated! :) We had Redneck Bunco Monday night so I decided to be Redneck Barbie! As I was googling "redneck women" for ideas I found her. I am not so sure she really exists...thankfully...but I thought I would represent! As you can see below she has her cig, & beer along with her gazillion kids! And...don't let the black eye go unnoticed! :) Ryan decided I needed a tattoo with his initials in it, RCK...which everyone thought said RICK! So..that went over well with Brooke ;) Our hostess with the mostess, Robin Stover, made us all coozies with our name on them for our ROOTBEER...not really beer. :) It was so much fun...we had roadkill, gator bites, pig intestines & white trash to eat! :) The best gift of the night was the $5 gift card to Dollar Tree!!! Who knew you could get a giftcard to a Dollar store? Wow! What is this world coming too!

So...needless to say...we had a great time at Bunco! By the way that's my sister-in-law, Christi Stephens Key in the pic' with me...It's a huge deal for her to have a hat on & her hair in a ponytail...in case you were wondering how she is redneck. :)

Well...the pregnancy is still chuggin' along...I was 15 weeks on Monday. My last dr's appt was at 14 weeks but no ultrasound :( just a doppler to hear the heartbeat..which was still good & strong! And the best part of the whole visit was that I got a prescription for Zofran!!! It's a dissolvable tablet that taste yummy like strawberries & keeps you from throwing up!!! I had thrown up 8 times the day of that appt...so the Dr. felt it was time for some. :) My poor friend Faith took me to my appt at the last minute once I realized I would probably throw up while driving there. Luckily I came prepared with a tote bag with all the necessities... Apple store barf bag, roll of paper towels, wet paper towels & a bottle of mouthwash! Good thing too...I threw up in the dr's office (in the can thanks to Faith's quick reaction time!) and then on the way home in the car...but not really in the car b/c I had my Apple Store bag! But guess what? It had wholes in it where the drawstring was inserted!!! Didn't realize that until it came out on my pants and Faith's seatbelt!!! :) ewwwwww! She was a great sport though...she dropped me off at home & went to Publix, filled my script & got me gatorade & jello! Poor Ryan felt so bad...he had a very important sales appt that day with his boss...so he couldn't come. I've taken about 5 of those Zofran in the last week....but haven't thrown up since then!!! Well..stay posted...my next dr's visit is next Tuesday...16 weeks!!! Am I having an ultrasound? I dunno!?!? Wish I knew..they like to keep me on my toes apparently! If not though..it will only be a couple more weeks from then that I would for sure find out the sex!!! yay!

~Kelly & Baby Key

1st appt with the High Risk OB! & more...

2009-05-19T15:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I went to my first appt with Dr. Kimberlin at UAB's Maternal Fetal Medicine yesterday. (monday 5/18) Everything went well...she did a lovely full exam on me & discussed my 3 blood clotting factors. She decided to add more medicine to the 7 pills & 3 shots I currently take each day. I have to add 1500mg of Calcium because the blood thinner I am on, Lovenox injections, can cause you to have osteoporosis. I have been aware of this, that is why at times my Hematologist (blood dr.) has made me come off of it(& back on oral pill Coumadin) to give my body a "break". This Dr. prefers I take the calcium since I have to stay on the Lovenox injections until I am finished breastfeeding (if I am blessed to be able to do so.) So..that's cool...what's a couple more tablets! :) Besides that, I had 4 vials of blood drawn...which I have no clue what those were for. I get so much blood drawn that I don't question it anymore. :) Then I went for an ultrasound & that was pretty funny. I was 12 weeks yesterday & so the technician immediately went to my stomach to do the ultrasound. Well...I have the picture below to show you that you can't see a thing! :)

We could see the baby on the screen but barely. She said my uterus is tilted back, which is fine, it just makes it hard to see the baby on an external ultrasound. The Dr. just wanted to be sure there was still a heartbeat...and the tech immediately said..."oh there's a heartbeat b/c that baby is moving around like crazy!" :) She did go ahead & listen to the heartbeat & FOR ALL OF YOU WANTING TO KNOW THE HEARTRATE.... I finally remembered to ask! It was 176. The tech said the idea that a certain heartrate can predict gender is a myth. She said basically you have a 50/50 chance of it being right so...of course at times people will guess correctly! She said they have had some that went along with the myth & it was right & some that were wrong. So it's just not a good prediction. BUT I decided to research the internet anyways...and 176 means a girl. Once I start popping out I'll have to do those other silly gender test too! :) Another question many of you have asked is whether or not the dr's would prefer with my high risk bleeding condition that I have the baby vaginally or have a planned C-Section? THE ANSWER IS....vaginally if at all possible!!! Quote from the Doc! I'm excited about that...I am looking forward to the excitement of not knowing exactly when I will go into labor! :) You mom's are probably saying I am crazy...but as of right now...it excite's me! :) So that was about it...overall it was a good visit. I liked my dr. & it's funny to come from seeing a regular OB then to a High Risk Specialist...she just acted like I was a normal pregnant woman! It was a great feeling...she is just so confident..like she has no worries about me & this pregnancy! I go back in two weeks, on Tuesday, June 2nd. At that point I will be 14 weeks. I asked the lady who checked me out what I will be doing at that appt..ultrasound? just seeing dr.? and she said she didn't know it didn't say on my form! She also said not to expect an ultrasound b/c normally they don't do ultrasounds each visit...but she said she doesn't know my high risk story..so they might! So..I don't know...I hope another ultrasound is to come!

Now I want to update ya'll on some other things in our life. Yes..we DO have a life..it isn't just about me being pregnant. :) 1st off..I had to take this picture of ALL my needles from the In-Vitro process!!! Yikes! Before I took them to the Dr's sharps container...

I had to keep a memory. :)

So...you probably didn't know that my Dad who we now like to call, "Senor Andy" :) has been driving up from Pensacola, FL since the end of February to remodel our master bathroom! When he started he would come up on a Monday & stay until Friday then go home for the weekend. He did that each week for a while. Then he started coming up on Mondays staying until Friday then heading home for a week long break then back to Bham! Currently he is "off" :). He'll be back next Monday or Tuesday to continue his work. When we bought our house it was 4 bdrms 1 1/2 bath. We knew going into it we had some remodeling to do. We hired out the job to make two bdrms into one master bedroom. That has been finished for a while now. Those guys framed out the mstr bath during that process but we planned on them coming back a few months later to finish that part. THEN, my wonderful, retired, can do anything he puts his mind too, Dad offered to save us LOT'S of $$$ and remodel the bathroom himself! He kept hinting each time he would visit that he could do it, he could do it and it would save us money. I just felt bad taking him up on it..once he said he needed a project I said OK! :)

The below picture was our former Half Bath that is in the mstr bdrm.

Ugly..ugly...ugly.. what is up with that blue?!

Now, as you see that blue floor is a shower floor!!! WE made the whole half bath one big walk in shower! This picture is actually a couple weeks old..b/c now my dad has the whole shower completely ready for tiling!

This used to be the closet in the mstr bdrm...now it is a "toilet room". It's small but get's the job done! It has a pocket door that goes into the wall & comes out if you want privacy. We did that for the next person who buys the house..we'll never shut that door! :) We're real modest! :)

This is the new vanity area! Yay for 2 sinks!!! My OWN space! We are currently sharing our full bath off the hallway..which has one little vanity space. Fun for when you have guest & you all get to use that shower & sink! ;)
Notice this mirror has no frame. I had glass cut the size I wanted & installed. Then the glass folks told me about Framed Reflections!

Ta Da! Doesn't that frame make it just pop?! Ryan & my dad thought I was crazy..that it was a waste of money & it looked fine without the frame... I don't think so! :)

Somewhat the whole view of the vanity.

By the way...my dad has never done plumbing until now! He did all the plumbing, wiring, sheet rock...just everything! He spent many a days under our house in the crawl space. He's a great worker b/c he's a perfectionist...so I know I can trust anything he does to be done right the first time! (and he's free) ;) just kidding!

So...since all this baby talk...I have updated you on our pup lately. He is currently our baby until Baby Key comes along! Heisman is now a year & half. He's our wonderful behaving lab. After lot's of storms this wkend I asked Ryan if he wanted to go with Heisman & I "mudpuddling". My term for putting on your Leopard print Golloshes (sp) :) and walking in mudpuddles! Heisman LOVES the water...so we knew he would enjoy this! Just across the street was this water & he just laid & stretched all in this!

We didn't get the camera out until the end so we don't have a shot of him in this persons yard rolling all around in a mud puddle! It was so funny! We couldn't get him to leave! Once he got in the puddle above it rinsed most of his blackness off. But daddy gave him a good spray down once we were finished with our walk. Heisman just stood there letting Ryan spray him! what a great dog!

Now! for the shake off! Is this not the craziest picture. It kind of scrared me at first...I was like where's his head?! Apparently his eyes are squinted shut, ears flopped down, and mouth spread out by the shake! Kind of hard to tell just by glance though!

Here he is all cleaned up! He's so cute!

Ryan & I decided we can't wait until this lil' one comes along so we can ALL go "mudpuddling"! :)

Today's OB visit...

2009-05-06T22:07:00.001-05:00

So...today's 1st visit to my "new" OB didn't go quite as planned. I got there & filled out all that paper work (which w/ my medical history...takes forever!) Then, the doctor comes in & tells me she is not going to treat me. Ever since my infertility dr had scheduled this appt for me her & him have been in lot's of discussion apparently. She came to the conclusion that she would go ahead & meet me at my appt today so she could explain in person why she doesn't feel comfortable being my dr. She is sending me to UAB's Maternal Fetal Specialist a.k.a high risk doctors. She said when she trained at UAB during school she dealt with anticoagulated (blood thinner) mom's. So she is familiar with it but that still doesn't mean she specializes in it. She cannot guarantee that she would be the one on call to deliver my baby...and if someone else in her practice is on call then she wouldn't feel comfortable with them delivering. She thought it would just be silly not to have the Maternal Fetal Specialist have me when they are right down the road! And I will be rotating amongst all ( 5 ?) doctors so they will all be familiar with my case. And they are all trained in this so any of them can safely deliver my baby. Needless to say I am pleased she was so up front about this. She could have just kept me to make money...or just being prideful...but she didn't. Now I have an appt with the specialist OB's on May 19th. But this Friday I go back to this regular OB I saw today for an ultrasound to determine two things: My for sure due date (based on measurements etc) and if I am having multiples. She wants to check thoroughly to be sure. :) I am real excited about that visit! Because today we didn't do an ultrasound like I thought...I miss seeing my baby! They have spoiled me with seeing he/she every week! All in all...it was a good visit. I and all our families will feel even better with me having specialist OB's.

So..I spoke too soon about throwing up only 3 times. Today made 4! :( Actually just a bit ago...when I got home from church...there went my KFC potatoe/chicken bowl I had for supper! What's funny is I just left church saying I was hungry..got home pulled out the KFC cole slaw & ran to the bathroom. So no cole slaw for me. :)

Please continue to remember my mother-in-law, Bev Key, in your prayers. Just last week she had her 2nd chemo treatment. She is doing as expected...has already lost her hair :( ...her attitude is great as always though.

~Mama Kelly

10 Weeks & only thrown up 3 Times!!!

2009-04-28T18:13:00.000-05:00

I am finally back to my blog. So sorry for the delay! I went to Las Vegas for a Perfect Wedding Guide conference (for work) April 15th-18th. Came back with a cold virus that I could not get rid of, so I had no social life for that whole week! Believe it or not I am still battling this stupid cold...still coughing & hacking up a lung! (Well..that's what it sounds like.) Then our computer has been jacked up...so I haven't been able to scan my ultrasound pics etc. to get this blog going. It's back & in action though...so here we go!

We have had an ultrasound every week since I found out I was pregnant! Most women don't have their first ultrasound until 8 or 9 weeks...but when you are an In-Vitro patient you have to go all the time. Which is fine with us...because we get to see every little speck of growth...which is really awesome.

This ultrasound is from 4-10-09, I was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant. We actually heard the 1st flutter of a heartbeat at this appt. Ryan couldn't really make it out...but I could..and the dr. of course. We all cried...me, Ryan & the nurse...Dr. Bates held it together though ;)

This is the normal view.

This is the Enlarged view: so you can see the circle is the yolk sak & where the arrow is pointing is the Baby Key :)

This one is just 5 days later! (I told you I go a lot!) :) 4-15-09, 7 weeks. I was leaving this day for my flight to Las Vegas...Dr. Bates wanted to be sure everything was good before I left town.

As you can see everything just got slightly larger! But all was good so off to Vegas I went!

4-22-09, 8 weeks along. This is the normal view..No that is not 2 babies in that sack...everyone who has seen this pic' has asked me that. :) Baby Key is the larger shape, the smaller oval beside him/her is the yolk sack. The yolk sack at this point is getting smaller & smaller b/c the placenta is taking over. I asked where that yolk sack goes? They said it just "goes away"...I'll never "see" it. Your body just absorbs it. Cool huh?

The Enlarged view

Lookie...Lookie...it actually looks like something now!!!

This one is from 4-28-09, 9 weeks along.

This is the normal view...and you can probably tell...his/her head is on the left with little arms curled up to it's mouth!

This is the Enlarged view...you can see the little leg stumps on either side on the right.

That was my last appointment with my Fertility Dr. :( Sad day..I will miss that office! They are wonderful! Dr. Bates said everything is perfect so he is releasing me to an OB. Since it was my last appt when my Dr. heard the heartbeat again on this visit he took mine & Ryan's phones & recorded it for us!!! So we have it to listen to at anytime! Ryan will periodically text me to tell me he can't stop listening to it. :) So sweet!

I had an OB/GYN at St. Vincents hospital but my doc recommended I stay at UAB. UAB has the high risk facilities so no matter what hospital I am at in town...if something happens "high risk" (which is likely with my blood conditions/clotting) then they would just have to ship me over to UAB. I feel better staying at UAB for that reason...and of course that eases Ryan & our families minds too! I didn't really have much of a relationship with my former OB anyways..since I have been an infertility patient I haven't even seen her in like 2 years. So...my fertility Dr. picked someone at UAB for me. I had no clue who to choose...he knows who needs to "handle" me. SO..Dr. Cheree Stuart it is! I see her tomorrow morning, 4-6-09. I am real excited to meet her! Bad news is this will be the 1st appt Ryan misses. :( He had surgery today to remove a hemorrhoid :( so he is out of commission for a few days. Tonight he said he is never working out again! That told me just how much pain he is in! If you know my husband you know he has lifted weights uhhhh since middle school & has never stopped..as he approaches his 32nd bday this month! :)

Regarding my "sickness" during this pregnancy..I am very grateful! I have only thrown up 3 times so far. This past Sunday was the last time. Since I am 10 weeks now..I only have 2 more weeks of my first trimester...which hopefully will mean no nausea!!! I have a lot of that..but thankfully not a lot of the actual thing. Other than that I have just been very picky about what I want to eat. I had "wheat free" pizza lastnight that I made at home b/c I wanted pizza sauce soooooo bad! Then, tonight after Ryan & I watched a Papa Johns commercial he wanted pizza & I did too! So...I decided to order it & I scraped the sauce & toppings off onto my wheat free crust. :) It was delicious! I normally don't ever order extra toppings..but I did this time..extra sauce! I think I could just drink a jar of pizza sauce right now! So weird! Along with that is the salty craving I have ALL THE TIME. I don't think it ever stops. I normally love sweets but not since I have been pregnant! You can't even tempt me. I carry chips with me all the time. (even at church..but don't tell) :)

Check back later this week for my ultrasound pictures from tomorrow!

~ Mama Kelly :)

6 Weeks Pregnant...1st Ultrasound!!!

2009-04-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well...I had to call my nurse last Monday to ask her how far along I am. :-) I knew things were different with In-Vitro patients...so instead of guessing I called & asked. As of last Monday, March 30th, I was 5 weeks pregnant. As of tomorrow, April 6th I'll be 6 weeks! Once I found out I was pregnant that Monday, March 23rd, they had me come in two more times that week for blood work. They wanted to continue checking my Beta HCG level. So the first time was 40 which meant YAY! I am pregnant! Then on Wed. it was 70, then on Friday it was 114.47. Since it increased as it should I didn't have to have anymore labs last week...Yay!!! But I did go in this past Friday for my 1st Ultrasound! They told me they just wanted to check for the sac to be sure it's in the uterus as it should be. And..it was! As you can see in the pic below there is a tiny, tiny, tiny, :-) black circle! That would be the "baby." :-) I asked the Dr. if there was even a speck in that circle & he so no..not really. BUT this Friday there should be a tiny something in there that we can see! Hopefully we can hear a little fluttering of the heart too!

This is just an enlarged view of the "baby" (black circle).

I think hearing or seeing something in there will convince me I am really pregnant. Thankfully I am not sick or crazy tired... so I don't really notice I am pregnant. I DO notice how hungry I am ALL the time! When I begin to get hungry I have a 10 minute time frame before I HAVE TO BE FED! My new friends are Welch's fruit snacks & South Beach Diet Peanut Butter Protein Bars! I keep them with me at all times now. My other not so new...but mor regular friend is my favorite mexican restaurant... Sabor Latino. If I am getting so hungry I start feeling light headed & nauscious then I rush to eat there b/c I know they'll feed me chips as soon as I walk in the door! :-) I also found another infertile friend there...so I passed on my blog address & contact info. I want to help as many women as possible with the struggle to conceive. It happens for a reason...and to help others may be that reason! So..gotta take advantage of it!

Well..My Ryan is doing great with the whole baby news. I don't think it's real for him yet either. He kisses my belly periodically & text me a lot that he loves me & our baby. :-) He's so precious! Ryan's not real fond of change..so I am currently warming him up to the idea that..without a doubt our office WILL be the nursery since it's closest to our bedroom & furthest from the noisy kitchen, laundry room, living room, etc. And warming him up to the fact that my 4 door, '95 Infinity which is really more like 2 door b/c there is no leg room...will not be a good everyday car for a carseat! :-) I LOVE MY CAR...but it will be better for daddy. :-) And his Jeep Cherokee SUV will be fantastic for ME! :-) It will hold me, the carseat, & friends! Perfect!!! I still have 9 months to convince him. :-)

On a horribly sad note...we found out FOR SURE this past Wednesday that my mother-in-law, Bev Key, does have cancer. :-( She has T-Rich, B Cell, Lymphoma. This is an uncommon one & is Non-Hodgkins. She is stage 3-4 & it's highly aggressive. She will begin chemo this week & have 6-8 sessions total over a 4 1/2 month period. She has been undergoing a lot of test to finally come to this diagnosis. Please keep her in your prayers as she deals with this battle that so many have to deal with these days. I am so glad to be able to give her a grandchild to look forward too! A bright spot at the end of the tunnel!

I'll post next weekend with more ultrasound pics!

~KK

I'M PREGNANT!!! IN-VITRO WORKED!!!

2009-03-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM ACTUALLY SAYING I AM PREGNANT! THOSE 3 WORDS MAY SEEM SIMPLE TO MOST...BUT TO ME...IT'S WHAT I FEEL GOD HAS PUT ME ON THIS EARTH TO DO...BE A MOTHER.

Monday, March 23rd, is declared a new holiday in the Key household. :)

Ryan & I went in Monday morning at 8:30 for me to get my Beta HCG & Progesterone checked. Before we left, my wonderful nurse Lee Ann stopped us to let me know they would call me around lunch with my results! She asked me how I had been feeling (the past 11 days since embryo transfer). I told her I had been feeling icky after eating & cramping...but, that I knew the medicine was "telling" my body it was pregnant (even if it wasn't)...so I didn't think it meant I was really pregnant. She then told me that the medicine doesn't make you feel sick....yes it prepares my body internally for pregnancy but that's all. So...Ryan & I just looked at each other like Oh! My! we might really be pregnant! My nurse said well we will just wait & see. Then Ryan & I walked out of the office & Ryan says, "Can we sit down for a minute?" So we sat back down in the lobby & didn't say a word..until Ryan finally asked me.."what are you thinking about?" I said, "how many times I have been nauseous this past week!" He then decided he was ready to go now..BUT as we are riding up the escalator he starts dry heaving! :) If you know my husband a little bit at all..you will find it very funny that he dry heaves a lot... and not because he's sick! This time it was because he was nervous!!! :) I just started laughing...causing him to laugh too!

Once we left the Dr's office we immediately decided we needed to find something to occupy our time for the next 3-4 hours. And work was not an option! :-) So...Ryan being the "eater" that he is decided we would go through the Hardees drive thru so he could get gravy biscuits. All I wanted was an orange juice for some random reason...b/c I never drink it even though I DO like it. Well.. who would of thought Hardees would be out of orange juice at 9:30 in the morning! I just had to mention that...how funny! So..nothing for me. Then we stopped by the house so Ryan could take some work stuff along with him in case a client called. While we were there I measured our T.V. den so we could go look at sectionals to pass the time. From there we went to Mazer to look for that couch w/ no luck! Then, Ryan decided we should go use his giftcard to S&K..so we went & bought him 2 suits! Next he took me to Starbucks for a half caff(half the caffeine) tall, latte. :) At this point we STILL had a couple hours. We decided to go to Ashley furniture. After staying there for a good long while...we bought a sectional!!!! (who would of thought we should of been buying a crib!) :) While doing all this shopping our mind was free of pregnant thoughts...but as soon as we would get in the car...ryan would say, " Man! I get all nervous when we stop shopping! I can't help but think about it!" At this point, it's lunch time! We decide to go to Zoe's! On our way over there I said, "oh I hope we find out I am pregnant before we finish eating b/c then I can go next door to Sew Precious (an adorable baby store) & buy something for MY KID instead of someone else's!!!! :) We order & sit outside so I could be sure to hear my phone ring. Ryan goes to the bathroom as we wait on our food & I set my phone on the table. Just as I did that... it rang!!!! I saw the 334 area code knowing it was my Dr. b/c the nurse told me he was in Montgomery that day. I answered the phone in the most unexcited, monotoned voice...which I know you can't imagine coming from my mouth! Dr. Bates said, "how are you today Kelly?" I said I am am good & he said, "Well, you should be..because you're pregnant!!!" I immediately started balling my eyes out & through my tears said, "are you serious?" He said, "I would not joke about something like that." At this point..I have my hands over my face, holding my phone, crying my eyes out & Ryan comes walking out! You can only imagine what he is thinking..oh crap! She's NOT pregnant! (again!) As soon as he walked thru that door outside & I saw that concerned look, I immediately said, "We're Pregnant!" and shoved the phone to him & said talk to Dr. Bates I can't quit crying!!! Ryan steps away from all the people sitting outside around us to talk to Dr. Bates. I just sit there by myself...smiling my head off...but balling at the same time!!! People probably thought I was bipolar or something?! :) I finally got up & walked over to Ryan & asked to talk to Dr. Bates again. I said, "Dr. Bates if you were here right now...I would hug you!" He said, "well you're going to see me on Wednesday so you can hug me then." :) We got off the phone & Ryan & I just hugged. Then he said a prayer thanking God for answering EVERYONES prayers! And I mean everyone! From Utah to FL to GA..I could keep going! Amazing! It was to say the least... a moment I will NEVER forget & honestly didn't have much hope of ever thinking I would experience! Our food finally came & we chowed down while I called my Dad in Pensacola, Grandparents, Brother & his wife in Georgia & My sister & hubby in Utah. Ryan called his middle brother Chad & his grandparents. After that you can guess where we went next? Sew Precious!!! It was a completely different experience looking around knowing I could buy that stuff for Our Child. We did buy a picture frame for Ryan's mom that said "My Heart Belongs to Grandma." :) Of course I wanted to buy more..but we don't really know the sex of the baby(s) yet. :-) After leaving there we continued calling family & friends then made our way to tell Ashley Seng Williams & little Jakey in person..but she wasn't at home. :-( So...Ryan called Rick to tell him over the phone & that way we could also find out were Brooke was. :) She was headed home from school so that's where we went next. She didn't hear or see us pull up. I rang the doorbell & stood as close to the door as possible. She looked out & barely saw me..but instantly knew what I was there for! I yelled I AM PREGNANT...and we just hugged & cried forever!!!! (she is just one of my many friends who has dealt with my emotional roller coasters through this whole 4 year battle.) We had a lot to cry about! I had struggled this whole time when having to hear someone is pregnant, to be around someone pregnant, to go to a baby shower! And everyone(who is so considerate) around you, who would avoid talking about babies...IT IS ALL OVER!!!! That can definitely bring tears to the eyes of many who have been by our side. Once we left Brooke we headed out to Trussville to tell Ryan's parents. Yes they knew we were finding out on this day but since they had heard nothing & it was 4:00..they assumed that meant bad news. Luckily with the help of Ryan's brother, Chad, we were able to still suprise them. When they've waited this long for this news...it was bound to be a surprise. Chad arrived before us so he could occupy them in the living room. Meanwhile we do a little mission impossible & park alongside the house, go under the deck, crawl around the sunroom & military crawl into the garage! Once in there we took deep breaths..that got us a little winded...and we walked in quietly. They didn't even realize we were there until Mama Key turned towards us. As soon as she did I yelled, "We're Pregnant!!!!" She immediately took this deeeeeeep breath ran & hugged Ryan as Butchly hugged me, & we just cried, yelled & smiled!!! Jared & Chad were both there so it was a family occasion...we were just missing Christi (Chad's wifey). After it all settled in & we told the story of our day...then while the guys grilled out dinner Mama Key took me to Kolhs to find a shirt that would let people know I was pregnant. We ended up finding one that said, "Baby, Love, Happiness" on it(that's the white shirt I have on in the pic below)...but she didn't stop there! :-) We also got a maternity shirt that is so cute & a few of the things you see below! We are prepared whether it's a boy or girl or twins! :)

"Cute but messy just like daddy" that's what the bib says in case you can't read it! :-) That is very appropriate! Believe me! :) Ryan cannot eat a meal without spilling something on himself!

I had no idea Ryan was making these faces! I dunno what I was laughing at?! Probably my father-in-law, Butchley!

After we left the In-Laws we headed to church for the 2nd night of our gospel meeting. It was announced that we were pregnant...& I promise you people starting clapping...just slightly enough to barely hear... :) but then I guess they realized the quiet setting of church that they were in! :-) When they announced it I was overjoyed to finally be that girl at church who is pregnant! Luckily no one else at our congregation has struggled with infertility...so we have lot's of babies & still more to come. It was surreal to hear our names as the ones pregnant..as silly as that may sound! What was weird was when they did announce it & a little pit formed in my stomach as I thought, " oh I hope no one here is currently struggling to get pregnant!" I know how hard it has been for me to hear the next person that's pregnant besides me. To cry during church because you can't get it out of your mind. To avoid social gatherings because you would rather be secluded...I say all this not to get pity...but I know infertile women read my blog & I want them to know I have been there..and they are not crazy for feeling the same way! No people can't put their life on hold b/c I can't handle their news...so you just learn to cope!

Once we left church, I immediately got back on the phone to continue my "I'm Pregnant" calls! This kept on until 11:30pm by the way! We pulled up in the driveway & saw our mailbox as you see below!

Then our front porch as you see below!

And this bouquet of Tulips (my favorite flower) on our porch railing.

And in my mailbox came a special delivery all the way from Washington, D.C. from my childhood (& current) best friend, Lori Beth Presley-Walker! These adorable stackable blocks that spell out pray. I told her I will always look at those blocks & remember the prayers that were lifted up on our behalf to have a baby. And you better believe this baby will know what prayer is early on! :-) What timing for the pray blocks!!! I just love them!

So Ryans reaction when we pulled up was, "WOW!" And I started balling my eyes out AGAIN...saying, "I have the bestest friends in the whole world Ryan!!!" When I went to the mailbox there was card outside of it from my co-worker, Katie & her 3 week new husband :-) Cali Calhan. WE JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE THEY SNUCK OVER & DID ALL THAT DECORATION! I had talked to Katie on our way out to the In-Laws & once she got off the phone she told her hubby & said, "I wanna' do something for them!" Cali suggested going & decorating our house! (what a sweet couple!) You better believe we left those decorations up until Wednesday when it rained! The beautiful bouquet of my favorites, Tulips, came all the way from Winston-Salem, NC!!! From my college roommate, Kiera Todd-Keen, her hubby David & 6 month old Tyler! Those flowers are still on my dining room table! :) Later the next day, I came home from work & found this cute little message on our front door! We honestly still don't know who did it? We think it might have been one of our sweet neighbors. How cute though!

Well that ends Our In-Vitro Journey!!! We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives, whether we see you often or only through the computer...thank you for your prayers!!!

God is good!

~Kel & Ryan

The Embryos are with their Mama now!!!

2009-03-12T19:35:00.002-05:00

Today was the day I got my little embryos put inside me!!! Yay! I couldn't sleep lastnight so I probably got about 4 hours sleep before we had to be up at 5:45 AM!!! I had to take an antibiotic, 4 ibuprofen, 1 Xanax & the other 5 pills they have make taking day to day...along with 64 ounces of water before 7:30 AM. What a morning! We arrived at 7 & were taken back for me to get in my gown & Ryan to get into his scrubs, hat & mask. We were a purty pair to say the least. :-) They rolled me back to the operating room & this time I was completely aware of what was happening. Ryan sat at my head watching everything as I laid there with 4 Male doctors & 1 female nurse attending to this embryo transfer! That was a little awkward. :-) I was so anxious to see my little embryo babies!! But they informed me they stay next door in the lab until they are absolutely ready to insert them. So they had a ultrasound going on my tummy to find my cervix (which was a pain today for some reason...it was being stubborn the Dr. said). But luckily I had no physical pain! Yay! And one Dr. was pushing on my bladder which was excellent after 64oz. of water! :-) Once they were ready to send the embryos into my birth canal they called the embryologist to go get my lil' ones. And Wa La! I didn't even feel them going in...& that was it! They rolled me back to my recovery room where I was instructed to lay there, still for 30 minutes & I could not go to the bathroom YET! So Ryan & I took that opportunity to pray for our 2 little ones to attach to my uterus therefore making me pregnant. We have had faith in God throughout this whole process. Lot's & Lot's of prayers have been lifted up in our name from many of you & we appreciate that so so much. We know God has His hand in this & it may not be what we want but He know's what is best...and either way...pregnant or not...we will have to live with that.

Well...a few more details of our experience today! Dr. Bates said all my 7 embryos were still alive. So they picked the strongest two that would go into me. The other 5 will stay in the lab in their petry dish for 5-6 more days. Some will not make it that long & those will go on to Heaven to see their Heavenly Grandma "Barbie" Hinote. Any that do make it will then be frozen. We may have none in the freezer or we may have 5! We'll have to wait & see.

The two embryos that are in my uterus right now are pictured below!!! :-) Dr. Bates was so pleased with the these 2. He upped my chances of pregnancy from 50%-60% to 55%-60% !!! Yay..every little bit gives hope. This is the grading process for embryos: they get a letter & a number based on cells etc etc. The letter 'A' is perfect. But he said he hasn't seen an 'A' in 1 1/2 years. So it's not very common. Therefore in there book a 'B' is excellent!!! I do not remember the number grades but that was excellent too! The embryo on the right is a B!!! And the embryo on the left is a B minus!!! I was excited to hear they were so great! Because that betters your chances of becoming pregnant that's why he upped my success percentage! Yay!!!!

The form you see below is listing all my eggs that were retrieved..the embryos that formed etc.

They also were so cool to give me the home of two of my embryos!!!! It's just a plastic tray with 4 circles that hold them & a lid on top! Then that stays in the lab on a warming shelf. It's the craziest thing to Ryan & I to think they took part of me out...hung it out in a lab...formed human beings...and placed them back into my body! Thank you God for blessing those Dr.'s with the smarts to help us have a child!

So after we left the procedure this morning I went to accupuncture for the last time. Then Dr's orders were to go home & relax! No stress for those little one's. I watched 2 episodes of American Idol that I had DVR'd & finished a book I had been reading & started another book! :-) Oh! And I took a nap for like 1 1/2 hours!!! I would say that was a relaxing day! But it didn't end there! Our sweet best friends Brooke & Rick Williams insisted on bringing us dinner (b/c I didn't need to be up cooking...were Brooke's words!) :-) They brought the most excellent dinner of baked chicken, spinach cream cheese in squash, broccoli & cheese casserole, rice, bread, & fresh fruit for dessert!!! It was "scrum diddally umptious!"

I know you are all wondering when I'll know if I'm pregnant. I get that question all the time! :-) Just b/c they put two embryos in me does not make me automatically pregnant. Today & tomorrow if I am going to get pregnant that's when it will be. The embryos were placed directly in my uterus so all they need to do is attach to that uterin wall..therefore making me pregnant!!! The analogy the Dr. gave me was this...my embryos are two basketballs & my uterus is a football field...those embryos have a huge space to attach too! Let's pray they get comfy somewhere in there! :-) I will not do the traditional pregnancy test bought at the store (thank goodness..b/c never has one of those things told me I was pregnant...so I don't like those!) :-) I will go in for lab work in 15 days to determine if I am!

Let me speak for all infertile women...If I am not pregnant & you have a child or are pregnant I will probably go into hiding & not want to be around you. Please do not take offense to that...as a counselor said at my infertility support group, "to not be able to conceive is like grieving the loss of a child." It's the equivalent to me having a child who passed away. So...if that helps it make sense at all....try to understand that I am not trying to be mean.

Thanks for following our In-Vitro Journey...You have no idea the encouragement Ryan & I get from your comments on this blog, through facebook, email, texting, phone calls..etc.

We hope to share good news soon!

~KK & Rino

10 EGGS!!! Now it's the Survival of The Fittest!!!

2009-03-10T21:14:00.001-05:00

I had my surgery Monday morning to retrieve my eggs. My sweet, dependable dad came up to Birmingham (from Pensacola) on Sunday night about 11pm. So he was in the waiting room with Ryan, along with Ryan's parents. I am grateful to them b/c I was concerned about Ryan waiting out there by himself. I was under what they call "conscious sedation". This basically means I am out of it but if they were to say, "Kelly move your right leg" I would be able to do so myself. They also gave me Phenergan which is the stuff that keeps you from throwing up. They gave me that first & I was knocked about before the Dr. could even see me prior to surgery! It doesn't take much! Another thing they give you is some Amnesia medicine that helps you to forget. I am glad I had this...let me explain why. What I remember from it all is getting rolled back there and them asking me to move on to the operating table and all the lights everywhere...then they were putting my legs in the biggest stirups of all time!!! :-) Then the only other thing I remember is crying saying, "it hurts, it hurts!" and the nurse & Dr. telling me they're almost done. Afterwards I did have crusty tears along the edges of my eyes that I began wiping off when I woke up. I told Ryan that was what I remembered saying & he then told me the nurse said the anesthesia was wearing off towards the end so I felt a little... but she immediately gave me more so I wouldn't feel it! Luckily, I cannot remember what the pain felt like. Thanks to the amnesia med's!!! I remember saying that & crying but not the actual pain I felt. I did not have any bleeding issues!!!! Yay for answered prayers! So..all in all it went fine but I really don't want to have to do that again! Once we left I was starved so Ryan & my Dad took me through the KFC drive thru for some yummy mashed potatoes! Somehow I kept my eyes opened to eat them then I slept the rest of the day..woke up long enough to eat some supper & watch 24 & then knocked back out again! They did retrieve 10 eggs.

Dr. Bates called to check on me this morning & to give me a status update on our eggs! Out of the 10..3 did not make it thru the night. :-( But 7 of the 10 did fertilize to form embryos!!! YAAAAYY!! But...Dr. Bates does not think all 7 will make it until Thursday when they do the Embryo Transfer (putting the babies in me!). He thinks 4 will survive. He bases that on the fact that he has seen many embryos in his lifetime & he can tell when they won't survive. So...that's actually great news! They'll implant 2 in me & we will freeze the other 2. We WILL NOT just leave those in the freezer the rest of our lives as some would do. We feel these are human beings at this point therefore they deserve a chance to live too. So...being "cautiously optimistic" if this go around isn't successful then I will not have to go through surgery to get eggs..we will already have 2 embryos in the freezer we can use. If I do get pregnant this 1st go around... when we are ready for more children we will go through the process again using our frozen embryos!

In the meantime I started more med's yesterday & today!!! You thought I was done with all those shots huh?! Yesterday I began taking Estrogen tablets twice a day & Medrol ( I don't really know what that is for? I just take it for the next 5 days). Tonight I got my 1st Progesterone SHOT FROM MY HUSBAND! It was a first for both us! Me having someone else give me a shot & him giving the shot! It was quite funny I must say! Progesterone oil is thick & yellow. It's to be injected in the muscle versus subquetaneous (meaning in the fat). It has a wonderful long needle to get into that muscle. Ryan & I watched a video we found on You Tube on how to inject it. We were BOTH NERVOUS. I was nervous b/c he was nervous & since he was the one sticking that thing in my rear/hip I was REAL nervous. He was so afraid he was going to hurt me. I told him at this point...I am a human pin cushion... I can handle it! He drew a target mark on me & nailed it! We probably stood there 5 minutes before he actually stuck me! My hands were sweating b/c I was nervous which is crazy! I wasn't even nervous until he was! This was his first time to EVER give a shot..but I give him an A+ . To my surprise it didn't even hurt! We're ready for tomorrow to do it all over again! (I believe he has to do this for like 2 weeks!) He'll be a pro before it's over with.

YES! THAT IS THE NEEDLE THAT WENT IN ME!!! I really thought it would hurt?But I am grateful it didn't! It must have been that great "shot giver" I have! ;-)

Egg Retrieval on Monday!!!!

2009-03-07T10:25:00.000-06:00

So this week I have been doing my 5 shots a day! And I went to the Infertility clinic twice. On Tuesday (3/3) they did lab work to check my estrogen level & it was 194. They also did an ultrasound (no...not on the outside of your body :-( ) to see how my follicles were developing. The follicles are fluid filled sacs that hold your eggs. The previous week I had 17 follicles, 12 just on my right ovary & 5 on my left. On this visit they only checked the follicles that are 1 centimeter or bigger. I had a few on my right ovary & 1 or 2 on my left. So I was progressing nicely they said & my uterine lining was a 7!!! Which apparently is fantastic! I bet ya'll are jealous ;-) !!! So...I continued on my fertility shots & come Wednesday afternoon I was hurting! I called the nurse to see if I could take Lortab or something else strong...but they said NO all I could take was Tylenol. They also decided they wanted me to come in the next day so they can be sure everything is okay. I went in Thursday & again they checked my Estrogen level & it was 694!!!! Remember just two days prior it was 194!!! Crazy how those drugs start to kick in! Next they did an ultrasound again & apparently my ovaries just started taking off with eggs! I had a lot more 1 centimer of larger follicles on my right & like 4 or 5 on my left..just in two days time! That was the cause of the pain...which is normal. They were thrilled & said everything is just perfect!!! At this point they decided my eggs would be ready for retrieval this Monday, March 9th at 10:30 am.

Here's an updated picture after a few days of 5 shots per day!! "I ain't scurred of no needles!" :-)

I did my last set of 5 shots a day lastnight!!! Yay for progress!!! Today I only have to do 3 shots! 2 blood thinner shots & a HCG Trigger shot at 9:30 tonight! Isn't that funny that I have a set time to do it?! I thought so! Then tomorrow on Sunday, I only do 2 shots!!! My blood thinner shot in the morning & the last one at 7pm. They don't want me to do it any later b/c they don't want me to bleed internally with the egg retrieval. So come Monday morning I will not do my typical blood thinner shot, I will wait until after surgery. Well that's the update for now! Please pray that the surgery to remove the eggs will be successful with no internal bleeding & lot's of eggs! They will tell us afterwards how many eggs they get! Yay!!!

Side note: My dad has been in town this whole past week remodeling our master bathroom. :-) We've started calling him "Senor Andy" .
:-) We took him & Ryan's dad out to dinner to Fire & Ice one night.

My Dad (Andy), Me, Ryan & Ryan's Dad (Butch or as I call him, Butchley).

Check back on Monday or Tuesday for an update on how many eggs we got!
~Kel

In-Vitro Calendar in full swing!!!

2009-02-23T18:07:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday (2/19) I went to see my infertility Dr's nurse, LeeAnne. By the way for those of you who asked..I am seeing Dr. Gordon Bates at UAB Kirklin Clinics Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. So far I love Dr. Bates he has great bedside manner & his nurse LeeAnne is incredible! She made the calendar you see below so I have a guideline of the craziness that is about to occur! I know ya'll cant read it since it's small so I'll keep you posted! Besides going over the calendar of "events" she had me bring in all my medicine to show me how to administer all the shots. (and Ryan since he'll have to give me one in my hiney for 2 weeks later on!) He really started listening when she said that! :-) The nurse told me she loves to see how the patients bring in ALL their drugs. She said sometimes they bring a big box full or a huge bag etc. So..I told her I would surprise her! I had actually forgotten I told her that until it was time to go. I hurried to my gift bag container & found this ESPN bag that plays there them song when you open it! Luckily I was able to cram it all in there b/c that was the perfect bag to take. My nurse had no clue is sang (b/c we took that sticker off) :-) so she died laughing when she opened it...ran out of the room...with my bag...to show her co-workers. All of a sudden you hear people dying laughing! We have to make this light hearted some how? :-)

Today (2/25) at 9am I went to have labs drawn to check my estrogen level which was 20. The nurse said that's considered low which is what they want it to be right now and that explains why I have been feeling depressed & "emotionally fragile". :-) That Lupron shot I have been doing for the past 3 weeks caused this..which is normal..just ugh! Today they also did an ultrasound to check the follicle growth on my ovaries. I had 12 follicles (potential eggs) on my right ovary! yowza's! and 5 follicles on my left ovary. Normally only one of those follicles would produce an egg. I will be starting my follistim injections on Friday which will help those 17 follicles all turn in to eggs!!! That's what we hope for anyways!

If you can see the calendar for the 1st week of March that 's a busy week. I will be full swing with all my drugs. Basically my ovaries will be working so hard with all this stimulating medicine that I have to be real careful. The nurse put it like this...normally a womans ovaries are sort of floating up...well since mine will be working extra hard to produce lots off eggs they will be "heavy." Therefore, mine will sag..it will feel like they are being pulled down. I have experienced this feeling before and it IS NOT FUN! I remember last time I was doing fertility & were on some of these drugs I couldn't even plop down in a chair I had to slide myself down! That makes sitting in the pew at church glorious. :-) It will be over in no time though..so I can do it!!! Tuesday of next week (3/3) I will go back in for another ultrasound to check out those potential eggs & for more labs. Depending on how that goes I may have go to the Dr. every other day next week or everyday..it just really depends on lab levels etc.

Today Dr. Bates also talked with me about my egg retrieval surgery. That is tentatively scheduled for Monday, 3/9. This part will be the most risky part for me. As I have mentioned before, I have 3 blood clotting factors, therefore I am on blood thinner medicine for life. The process of retrieving the eggs involves a long needle that they put in to pull them each out. So if I have 17 eggs that's a lot to pull out! I will be knocked out of course but the risk comes from the chance of internal bleeding. The needle could scrape me inside and with me being on blood thinners that makes my chance of bleeding even greater. So..my infertility dr is talking with a group of Hemotologist(blood dr's) at UAB & my Hemotologist at the Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincents to determine the best course of action. Should they take me off one dose of blood thinners the night before? But last time a Dr. took me off blood thinners I developed a clot in my leg again and I had only missed like 2 doses! Or should they keep me on them completely & hope they don't knick anything and that I won't bleed easily? Glad you're not the Dr. right? :-) I trust all my Dr's but I also know they are human...but more important than that...I trust God to take care of me. So I ask that you please pray that God will handle this issue and make it not an issue at all! The good news is..if I do bleed internally they just give me a blood transfusion & it might require some laparoscopic (sp) surgery. No biggie! :-)

Well...that's all for my In-Vitro update...next week will be full of progress so keep posted! This whole process will be over the 3rd week of March. So keep up! :-) You may remember my organizing efforts for my shots..where I tape my ziplocks to the towel bar? Well...some of you suggested for a cuter look to use some ribbon! :-) That idea became a necessity when my tape broke! So..here's a shot (no pun intended ) of my ribbon tied organized shots! Luckily I had just the right color to go with my hideous peach bathroom that will be redone...one day...

Yes..I do have a life other than infertility! We went to Pensacola, my hometown this past weekend. My newest nephew Eli was there with my Sis & her hubby..so it was a great visit with them & the gazillion other family members I have there. I was anxious to take some pictures of him. I went out in the yard at my grandparents house scouting out a photo op! With winter comes dead grass..no flowers...and cold weather. But I still managed to conjure up an idea! The bird bath!!! Once I saw it the idea came to me... I wanted him to lay face down in it with his lil' face turned towards me...but he's a little chubby :-) so my idea didn't pan out so well. Some of them turned out but the best ones are of him sitting up. I need a newborn for my original idea....I gonna try & steal Jake (Ashley's boy) to use him for my idea since he is still tiny...I have my own bird bath so we won't have to haul him to Pensacola for that photo shoot! :-)

This is one of the laying down ones that turned out.

He's just 2 months old...and starting to show some smiles..he was so cute!

Look at those chubby cheeks...oh they're great to kiss!!!

Look at those big brown eyes!!!

He looks like he's trying to be muscle man here!

I had to capture this moment! My hubby feeding a baby! Who got him to do this? (me...of course!) He needs the practice he might have his own soon! :-)

Okay...so babies then toes? I know! Since my sister was in Bham for a couple days we went and got pedicures. My work had a Networking Lunch In and after that we are always exhausted...so my sweet..wonderful...awesome....boss, Stephanie Whitaker, takes us sometimes to get pedicures afterwards! She didn't mind my sister tagging along...and I was excited they could all meet one another! I had told my sister I wanted to get polka dots b/c after watching The Real Housewives of Orange Co. I saw one of them do that & loved the idea! :-) (I know I can't believe I watch that show either..but look what I learned!) :-) Right after I tell my sister that she says..she wants to get the Channel logo in rhinestones after seeing Lauren off The Hills have that done...boy are we two peas in a pod! :-) They turned out adorable though! We were thinking of all the other things you could do...DG (Dolce & Gabanna), Louis Vitton..etc etc. :-) What will be next?

On our way back to Bham from Pensacola my brother & his fam were actually on their way TO Pcola! So we just so happened to be crossing paths in Montgomery, AL on Sunday so we met at Starbucks..imagine that? :-) I am glad b/c I was about to cry not thinking I would see my first nephew Mason who is 16 months old.

He keeps developing more & more personality...If you ask him to do his mean face...this is what you get :-)

If you ask for the happy face...you get a surprised look! :-)

His Uncle Kevin (my sister's hubby) & Mason...

Ryan was trying to make him look like LL Cool J! :-)

It was a quick coffee & visit..but worth it. Check back next week for updates on our In-Vitro Journey...hope you're enjoying it! KK

Accupuncture AGAIN & 9 Different In-Vitro Drugs!!!

2009-02-11T22:16:00.000-06:00

Well....there hasn't been too much going on in our in-vitro world YET. :-) I went back for my weekly accupuncture visit yesterday. Some of you (Ashley :-)) really wanted to see those needles in me...so Dr. Ivey so graciously took some pic's with my camera! I was stuck with 10 needles again... all in the same location except some went a little lower on my stomach this go around.

I even got a stomach pic! This is where the majority of the needles go. The little square you see on the left of my tummy is my band-aid from when I gave myself my Lovenox (blood thinner) injection that morning. (just didn't want ya'll to think I have some weird perfect square mark on my stomach!) :-)

Last but not least..the ole' needle in the wrist! I'm tellin' ya...you can't feel it! I had these in me for 25 minutes again...& guess what I did?.......SLEEP! I kept dosing off...then I would jerk each time when I would get good & asleep then the jerking would wake me up!

Just another pic' of the hand!

Yesterday, I got a call from my nurse at UAB Kirklin Clinic to inform me that I could go get my "drugs" from the pharmacy. For some reason I was really excited to go get these. I guess because it means I am getting closer to a chance at that baby! So far, this process has been so NOT stressful...and easy. But I think I am mentally prepared for the upcoming chaos. Physically...there's no preparation! Well anywhoo...I go get my LARGE giftbag full of drugs yesterday. Below is a picture of everything!

NINE different drugs on top of the 3 I take on a daily basis!!!! Wow! Luckily she warned me that I WILL NOT be taking these all at once. These are actually ALL my drugs for the whole in-vitro process! Which makes it nice that I don't have to make multiple trips to the pharmacy.

Yes...those ARE SYRINGES!!!! MORE NEEDLES!!! It's a good thing I've got this needle thing down pat!

For those pharmacy friends (Brooke) of mine who will want to know the names of the drugs I'll be on...here's an upclose view.

Okay...anyone notice the bottle with Xanax on it? Yeah...Xanax...that's for anxiety. How about I am bummed b/c there's only ONE pill in that bottle! ;-) Just kidding! I haven't been told what that one pill is for but I am pretty sure I remember the dr. telling me that the day they go in to surgically retrieve my eggs...I will be doped up to the equivalence of 2 six packs of beer! What's funny is...I have never drank....so this oughta be interesting! Ryan will probably have lot's of fun at that appointment. :-)

Last but definitely NOT LEAST...THE MONEY...THE BILL.....What SHOULD of been $3600 was ONLY $526.37!!!!! Thank goodness my insurance at least covers my drugs!

My next appt. is this coming Thursday (2/19) with my nurse to have an hour long visit where I bring ALL my "drugs" with me & we discuss how & when to administer each of those. I also get a calendar she has made for me which will show all my upcoming appts as we dive in deeper to this process. I am most excited about my calendar. I love a good calendar...and to see the timeline of this stuff will be fantastic. Of course...this is a rough estimate calendar...just a guideline.

I am getting excited......I Think! :-)

DAY 2 of Jake Steven Williams!!!

2009-02-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

Today is day 2 of little Jake's life...Aunt Kelly went to visit him today! His daddy slept for a little bit while his mommy & me caught up. :-) Ash was doing great walking around out of that bed. Jake slept the whole time but we managed to get some more pics. He didn't even budge with my big 'ole camera 3 inches from his face making loud noises & flashing! What a good sport! This first one had Nolan and I laughing as Jake clawed his eyes out for the photo!

Here's an up close of that clawing :-)

Those sweet lil' pruney feet...

Nolan thinks he looks like Ash...I think he has Ash's ears & Nolans lips...but we'll see. He says Jake has her chin/jawline also...I think he's right about that too!

Long little toes..

Mommy & her boy!

look at this tiny arm...

Couldn't leave out the tiny cute leg...

Daddy getting a nap after about one & a half hours of sleep the first night!!!

Ashley & Nolan's Lil' Jake is HERE!!!

2009-02-05T21:48:00.001-06:00

Jake is here!!! Born Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 7:04pm (I believe was the time). He & Mama are completely healthy! I can't wait to go back up there today & hold that lil' fella! Enjoy checkin' him out! :-)

14 Needles in ONE DAY!!! YIKES!

2009-02-03T23:18:00.000-06:00

Today I was poked by not 3 needles BUT 14!!!! Only 3 of them were prescriptions, the other 11 were Accupuncture needles! :-) To preface this experience let me tell you how I even got the idea to do this in the 1st place. I am apart of a newly formed infertility support group called, Resolve. It's a National Infertility Organization with volunteers across the U.S. forming support groups for the infertile. I love it! For those who have "infertile friends" please tell them about it...there is probably a chapter in their area no matter where they live! www.resolve.org For the Birmingham area, we meet the 1st Monday of each month at 6pm at the Homewood Library..for those interested. Anyways...last month we had a guest speaker, Dr. Martha Ivey with Alabama Oriental Medical Arts. One of her specialties is accupuncture. She explained that it helps increase blood flow & you can't have TOO much blood flow (especially someone like me who has horrible circulation in my left leg due to past blood clots). The increased blood flow helps you have better eggs which in turn make healthier embryos. All of us in our "group" had always heard of it helping..but not many had tried it. Then my sister-in-law, Lauren Hinote, tells me she saw an article in Woman's Day magazine about accupuncture helping you get pregnant through in-vitro. Ryan & I decided what's a few $100 more dollars to possibly increase your chances of having a baby when you're spending thousands! So...I went today for my first visit....after I spent the weekend filling out a 12 page questionaire! I had to answer questions like if I had teeth marks on the sides of my tongue, how often I have a bowel movement, if I am cold a lot etc..etc...Pretty funny stuff! Luckily my great friend Brooke was there to inspect my tongue for teeth marks! What are friends for! :-) So basically what happened today was that I laid on a cushiony HEATED bed on my back, then Dr. Ivey put 11 needles in me...I didn't even flinch ya'll...and I don't say that to be cocky...It just DOESN'T HURT so there is no need to flinch! You wouldn't flinch either! She opened up the BRAND NEW pack of needles while I watched to be sure I could see they were new..then put one in my right hand btw my thumb & index finger, one in my left wrist, 5 in my tummy (no..not where my current bruises are) but above my belly button. Then one in top of my left foot, one in the inside of my right foot, one in the center bottom of my chest, and one in my scalp! From that point I laid there for 25 minutes with the lights completely out as ocean music (my request) played in the background. I just took that time to pray & take a nap! It was sooooo relaxing. I go back once a week until embryo transfer then I will go a little more often around that time. So...until then...I am thinking about what music I will request for next weeks session...I am thinking...rain! I love to sleep in a good storm! :-)

We're doing In-Vitro!!!

2009-02-01T17:43:00.000-06:00

Well...a lot has happened since Thanksgiving in Kelly & Ryan's world of desiring a baby! As you all know a while back we announced we wanted to adopt. Well...in the midst of saving for that, we checked into the option of in-vitro. As a Christian I honestly didn't think it was possible to do without having to "throw" embryos away. We have it figured out though! I got a 2nd opinion with UAB's Fertility Clinic & love my new dr. there! I have to give my In-Laws props for helping make this happen..they have been very helpful...my father-in-law actually called this clinic to learn more about the dr's there etc. :-) So...this discussion started the beginning of December '08 & since, we have officially begun the journey of in-vitro. It's a process of about 2 months. I would like to let you experience this process with us via our blog. My Aunt Barbara actually sent me a blog of a friend who had gone through in-vitro. This girl blogged about all her experiences with this and it helped me tremendously. I am hoping that through my experiences I can help someone too. So please let your infertile friends :-) know about my blog...maybe they can get some support through it?!

Alrighty...As most know, I have three blood clotting factors (Factor V Leiden Mutation, Prothrombin 20210G>A Mutation & MTHFR) and have had a DVT blood clot in my left leg on two different occasions. Therefore I wear a compression stocking on my left leg everyday to help the blood flow back up my leg since I have scarring from the clots...my circulation will never be the same in that leg. Also I have to be on blood thinners the rest of my life b/c essentially I have 3 things trying to clot my blood..that's a little too many. :-) So before I could even begin any fertility "stuff" I had to come off of my oral form of blood thinner (coumadin) and start on my injection form, Lovenox Injections. I do this shot in the tummy twice a day until I get pregnant then continue through pregnancy & breastfeeding...I would swap back to the oral form of blood thinner once I was finished breastfeeding. You don't want coumadin in your system AT ALL when you conceive b/c that baby will have abnormalities. So that's why I can't just "quit trying" and hope to get pregnant...which is often the recommendation I get. :-) When Ryan & I say..okay we are ready to actively try and get pregnant, then I have to consult my Hematologist who writes me a script for Lovenox Injections, I get those going while coumadin gets out of my system...THEN we have the okay to "try." So I started these injections about 2 weeks ago.

These are all my used syringes...you can't just throw those in the garbage...I take them to my dr's office to dispose of in their sharps container.

The worst part of these shots is the mess! :-) I am no neat freak by any means..but it really bothers me to have to gather all this stuff together twice a day. So I made this little organized system on a towel bar in my bathroom I never use. :-) Band-aids...alcohol wipes, & shots! Everything in one place where I don't have go around the house gathering it all up every morning & everynight! It may look tacky but these ziplocks & scotch tape have come in handy. Ryan suggested I add some ribbon to make it even better! :-)

Let the Games BEGIN!!!

Today is actually the 1st day to really begin taking meds for this whole in-vitro process. But guess what I had to do before I started my newest drug? TAKE A STUPID PREGNANCY TEST! UGH!!! I thought I would never have to buy one of those dumb test again that will have a negative sign on it. Even better, the one I had was expired so after the Super Bowl lastnight, Ryan & I had to stop at Walgreens so I could get a new one! The 1st drug I take could harm a baby so they just wanted to be sure I wasn't pregnant.

So...this 1st drug is... guess what? An INJECTION!!! :-) It's called Lupron. It basically suppresses my system (otherwise known as Menopause) so the dr can get me & the other patients all on the same cycle so we all have embryo transfer the same week. Crazy huh? I had to be on this before after I had surgery for endometriosis. It's really fantastic! You have night sweats, hot flashes and you are way emotional! I can't wait for it to kick in! :-) As you see below it's just a little baby needle...I only inject a little...it didn't hurt. I have to do this one each evening. So now I am up to 3 SHOTS A DAY!!! That might be a world record? I am sure it's gonna get worse!

My new additions to my bathroom pharmacy! No children allowed in here! :-)

Here's the damage for now! I give all my shots subcutaneously (in the fat) of my stomach...nice huh? I don't really notice it unless the waist of my pants cut in that area..then that hurts! Most women show their pregnant bellies on blogs...maybe one day soon I'll get too...for now you get to see the progression of bruises! :-)

Well..I will have more news tomorrow...have a special appt in the morning..can't wait to tell you about it! To be continued...

LOT"S OF UPDATES!!!

2009-01-22T23:57:00.000-06:00

Well...this is a gonna' be a huge post with lot's of pictures & updates!!! I am starting where I left off...with coming home from Utah after seeing my nephew Eli born. I have to tell the story of the night I flew home. My hubby picked me up from the airport & on our way home we stopped by the car place so Ryan could pick up his car that was being worked on. Since we were in seperate cars we chatted on our phones to one another the whole 5 miles home...we were glad to be in the same state after 2 weeks apart!!! As most know..I like to drive fast....and thanks to my mother in law getting a new BMW a couple years ago...she was so gracious to give me her '95 Infinity..which is a V6 & I love the smooth, fast ride! :-) SO...needless to say I was way ahead of Ryan. I pulled into our driveway first & saw a Christmas tree lit up in our front window! Keep in mind, I am on the phone with Ryan & I started screaming w/ excited over this Xmas tree that WASN'T there when I left for Utah! All I could say was did you do that? did you do that? I LOVE REAL Xmas trees and was so sad we weren't going to have one since I was only getting home like 5 days before Xmas. (especially since this was our 1st Xmas in our new(old) house.) At this point I am thinking it's a fake tree, & it's strung with lights I'LL TAKE IT! Well as I go inside..to my surprise...IT'S A REAL TREE, STRUNG WITH LIGHTS, ORNAMENTS AND THE STAR ON TOP!!! So..I just want the world do know MY HUSBAND IS AWESOME! How thoughtful was that? Oh..and one last detail about the tree...instead of the tree skirt I normally use Ryan found a Xmas throw blanket in the box with the ornaments & that was laid around the base of the tree.... :-) I was so grateful he tried I left that hideous blanket there! :-)
Now let's begin some pictures of our Xmas with the In-Laws...Butchly & Mama Key as I like to call them! Heisman stayed with us at their house through Xmas...owned the house by the time we left & had everyone wrapped around his finger. This bone was what santa brought him. :-) The biggest bone I have ever seen...

Ryan's youngest brother, Jared, went hunting & when Heisman saw him pull up on that 4 wheeler it was chasing time! Later I took Ryan on that 4 Wheeler & did some 360's in this massive mud puddle as Heisman chased us and was covered with mud!

Butchly put his safety shades on Heisman who was completely content with them! How funny!

He looks like he is using them to read in this one!

We spent Xmas day over Grandaddy, Grandma & Aunt Carol Key's house...Ryan & I thought we would be funny & disguise Grandaddy's gift card in a Victoria's Secret catalog I had... :-) He got a kick out of that!

ROCK BAND!!! Wow did we have fun with this...I haven't see Ryan stay up that late in a long time...Rock Band got his attention! My sister-in-law was jammin' out! :-) She's gonna kill me for putting this picture on here! ;-)

Ryan rockin' out on the drums!

Butchly LOVES classic rock..so we got him & his sister (aunt carol) to try it out!

Is that a face or what? :-)

Told you Heisman had us all wrapped around his finger....he slept everywhere...on the couch with Jared, the loveseat with Christi, the floor with Ryan, the bed with Butchly & Mama Key...our upstairs bedroom floor...he was the King of the house! :-)

After Christmas was over, I headed to Huntsville, AL for a youth rally called Exposure. There were 1, 000 people there! I taught the teenage girls class & stayed with my brother & fam...so I got to see my first nephew, Mason. He's so precious!

Once I was back in town again we had date night with our best friends Rick & Brooke Williams. We went to Cocina Superior for dinner, then back to their house for coffee & our favorite card game...NERTS! (the shirt I am wearing is one my husband ordered for me from New York & Company....he did so good didn't he?!!)

Now we move on to some babysitting I did recently. Our friends Ethan & Keri Southern have two adorable children, Ella & Baylee. They hung with us one afternoon & we took them to church w/ us that night while their daddy & mommy went on a short trip out of town. While hanging at our house...they found my sticky flags in our office...who knew you could have SO much fun with those things! :-)

The one eyed Ella!

Ryan encouraged Baylee to do hers like a football player! :-)

Since ONE of my nicknames as a kid was Bucky Beaver (thanks to my siblings)...I thought i would make mine teeth!

Then..3 nights later Baylee spent the night with me, which was a promise I made to her as part of her bday present. It was Friday night & "big girls" go out on Friday nights...so we went to the McDonalds drive thru for a happy meal & to the Dollar theatre to see High School Musical 3...which was exciting for this 5 year old!
After our movie we of course had to be super "big girls" and go through the Starbucks drive thru! When I asked her what she wanted she said, "that thing my mommy gets"...which is a white chocolate mocha latte (decaf of course)!

Every since she got a make up kit for Christmas she has been telling me that when we have our slumber party she is bringing that make up! I don't think I was ready for the 10 applications of purple & pink eyeshadow...but I learned real quick that was the "thing " to do!

She insisted on putting all 6 lip glosses on me...one after the other! :-) I figured a girls lips can't be TOO shiny!

THE GOODS!

At this rate, she'll better ready to wear make up by 6! I was able to teach her why that little eye shadow brush had two different ends...so from that point forward we applied then blended! :-)

Here she is...hair all brushed & her pretty make up

She looks so much older to me!

Somehow the word massage came up...so she said we could do some massages! Ryan & Heisman decided to join in at this point. :-)

Her massage was so funny...it was the tiniest squeeze of your trap muscle then her little finger nails would lightly scratch in between your shoulder blades. And she doesn't move around..just really focuses on those 2 spots. :-)

Saturday morning was pedicure day. I took her to my favorite nail place where we both got pedicures & she also got her nails painted.

I wanted to to experience a "real" pedicure...soaking the feet, massaging the legs and all...so she did!

Drying those nails!

She got the hook up with the flower painted on her toe & finger nail!

On to more current events...my work had another party! Our newest issue of Perfect Wedding Guide came out so we had a party at The Dorothy McDaniel Flower Shop in Homewood, AL. It was a lot of fun...with guitarist, Keith Williams playing live music for us. Here are "the girls" ....Katie Burks: Engaged Librarian & Operations Manager, Stephanie Whitaker: Publisher & creator of Engaged- A Wedding Library..check it out at www.engagedweddinglibrary.com

and me...Account Executive (otherwise known as the Sales Person!) My job is to get wedding vendors to advertise in our magazine! I love my job!!!

So...this photo has a story behind it! I told my sister to get my hubby some muscley like shirts from Armani Exchange for Xmas. Well..she did and I encouraged Ryan to wear one to this party. I couldn't wait to see his oufit we had planned! :-) He was gonna look so HOTT! The owner, Dorothy McDaniel, overheard me talking about how hot my husband is! :-) So..when he arrived she came over to him & said she just had to see this HOT husband of Kelly's! :-) It was hularious! So...they decided they needed pictures together.. :-) we were all dying laughing before it was over with...they look like they are at Prom together! :-)

My friend Faith Peck (who was my trainer for 6 months at Riviera Fitness) came to our party too...

Me & My Hott hubby... :-)

Well...that updates you from the past month and a half...Keep checking for some up and coming EXCITING NEWS!!! (no I'm not pregnant!) :-)