Wayne and I have decided to take a picture of Addison on the 12th of every month with her sitting in MeMa's chair which is in her nursery. This will show us just how much she has grown and changed in a short month. These are the pictures from November 12th when she was 2 months old. She is wearing a turkey outfit which says, "Thankful As Can Be". We are truly thankful as can be for our dear, sweet Addison. 
Sweet Addison in her dedication dress. The dress has a hand-embroidered cross and the verse Joshua 1:9 on it. This verse says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
The dress was given to us back in the Spring by a friend and co-worker, Julie Smith. She purchased the dress at an auction to raise money for a little boy in Hoover who has cancer. Not only is it a beautiful dress, but it was for a good cause. 
Pastor Mark Schrade praying for little Addison and for Wayne and I. 
My parents (on the left), Wayne's parents (on the right), as well as my grandparents (hidden behind us) joined us on stage for the ceremony. Yes that is a tiki hut behind us and no our church doesn't always look that way. The stage was set up for a children's music on Sunday night. It was an interesting backdrop for the ceremony. 
Today was Addison's 8 week/2 month check up with the pediatrician. It was a little early since I have to go back to work on Wednesday. This first picture is of her sleeping in our bed with her daddy while I got up to get ready for the appointment. This is a luxury for her because she doesn't get to spend much time sleeping in our bed even though she sleeps very well there. I'm afraid Wayne will roll over her and never know it! He's a very sound sleeper and often never hears her screaming in the middle of the night when it's time to eat. 
This is the face of our happy girl after her belly was filled (notice the milk tongue) and before her doctor's appointment. She was full of funny faces and smiles this morning. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed playing with her and making faces which she would smile at. 
This is our fussy girl after her 4 shots--2 in each thigh. You can see her Tweety Bird band-aids on her thigh if you look close. Watching her get the shots was terrible!!! I think all of us cried! I was glad Daddy was there with us. Our otherwise quiet, happy child turned bright red and screamed at the top of her lungs. I've never heard her cry like that. The only time she fusses at all is when she's hungry. She has slept most of the day and has been fussy when she woke up to eat. She also hasn't eatten much. She is awake now and is still a little tempermental, but seems to be feeling better. I'm hoping she will eat one more time and then drift off to sleep. But it may be a long night for us. Wayne and I are a good team during the rough nights, but hopefully we will all get a good night's sleep. 
Here are some recent pictures of Addison I took with the pumpkins Granna and PawPaw brought her from their visit to the pumpkin patch with Stephen and Christian. Addison is doing well and getting very spoiled with Daddy home. She will only catnap in her bed during the day, but will sleep for hours in bed with dad or with someone holding her. She has spent the last 2 afternoons with my aunt and my mom while I took Wayne to doctor's appointments. Yesterday was his 6 month cancer checkup. Still waiting on lab and x-ray results, but everything looks good. Today he returned to his surgeon. He was released to go back to work next Wednesday which is the same day I will return to work. Addison goes back to the doctor on Monday. I'm excited to see how much she weighs now. I know she is over 8 pounds and may be close to 9 pounds by then. She is sleeping better at night--waking after about 5 hours and again about 3 hours later. Much better than waking 3 times a night which she was doing after spending the night away from hom. She is still loving her bath. Her latest trick is peeing on mommy after I get her out of the bath and have her sitting in my lap wrapped in a towel to dry her off. Addison is starting to grab things near her hands including her bib, my shirt while feeding, and my hair. She's holding her head up pretty well and loves to look around. She is such a sweet baby and we are enjoying her so much!!!
Little House on the Prairie--here I come! :-) This picture's for you Nana.
This was Addison's dress for the wedding. We got lots of comments about Addison's "shoe" socks. She has them in 6 different colors. Thanks Cori!
All dressed up and ready for our first trip to church.
Napping buddies! This has been a very common sight this week as daddy recovered from surgery.
Wayne had outpatient surgery on Tuesday. We were at the hospital from 6:30am to about 4:00pm. That is the longest I have ever been away from my sweet baby. Wayne's dad was at the hospital with me and his mother stayed with Addison at our house. Thank goodness for family. By the time I got Wayne's medicine and got him settled, it was 5:30 before I got my hands on Addison. All I wanted to do was hold her. But due to a complication we ended up in the ER Tuesday night for a couple of hours. My dad met us at the hospital and took Addison to their house since they live close to the hospital. By the time we left the hospital I was a mess from lack of sleep and not seeing and holding my sweet baby much all day. But since we didn't know what the rest of the night would hold and because I was absolutely exhausted, I agreed to allow Addison to spend her first night away from us. I cried the whole way home and continued to cry until I finally fell asleep holding her blanket. Thankfully we got a pretty good night sleep and mom brought Addison back to our house by 8:30 Wednesday morning. Needless to say--all I did all day was take care of my two babies. This picture has been a common sight--Wayne sleeping with his little girl. Wayne is doing better, but still in a good bit of pain when he moves around much. He is very thankful for his pain medicine. I'm very thankful for all the help from my mom, my in-laws, and my sister-in-law. They have been wonderful to feed us and come help out when needed. I don't know what I would have done without them.
Addison's first real bath-she didn't cry at all!
Addison liked being down in the water for her bath. 
Addison's favorite activity--staring at the toys hanging above her activity mat
Staring up at the toys on her activity mat. She is starting to swat at the toys.
Addison likes to spend time snuggled in her Boppy watching everything around her.
Our beautiful little girl!
About the only time Addison cries is when you take her clothes off and give her a bath.
Spending quality time cuddling with daddy when he arrives home in the afternoon.
Addison at 48 hours old dressed and ready to leave the hospital on Sunday.
Our new family!
Addison after her first bath at home. She screamed most of the time but quieted quickly afterwards.
These are the pants from her going home outfit which was a newborn size. They stretched from her shoulders to her feet. Thankfully my mom searched until she found a perfect going home outfit in a preemie size. Even some of her preemie clothes are too big right now. But she will grow into them quickly I'm sure.
Hard-working daddy painting Addison's room.
The chair in the corner is from Mema's house--this is the grandmother Addison is named after. I should have used the flash on this picture and the next one because the color looks more yellow than it actually is. 
The furniture was my furniture growing up. Her room also includes some of the wonderful gifts we received at the shower on Saturday.
This piece will serve as her changing table once we get the pad on top. 
Stephen is all smiles before the game. 
Stephen enjoys cotton candy while mom and dad watch. Little brother Christian takes a nap.
Christian awake from his nap.
Christian and Uncle Wayne enjoy the game. 
This is the best picture from the ultrasound. It was the very first one that was taken and before she started playing peek-a-boo. You can see her arm beside her head and she was sucking on her lip--kind of like her cousin Will. 
Throughout the ultrasound, which lasted about 20 minutes, Addison kept her hand over at least part of her face. It was like she was playing peek-a-boo.
This pictures looks like she is smiling at us while playing peek-a-boo. The nurse commented on her "full checks"--she definitely gets those from mommy.
I think she gets the big feet from her daddy. She had her foot up over her hand which was over her face at one point during the ultrasound.
These pictures are from the 4-d ultrasound which we had yesterday morning. It was a wonderful experience although Addison was a little camera shy. She started with one hand up on her forehead and the more the technician poked and moved her, the farther down that hand came. Eventually she covered her whole face with her tiny hand and foot. It was quite entertaining to watch. Even though we didn't get the best pictures, it was amazing to see her little face, hands, and feet and you could even see the 4 chambers of her heart beating away. I can't wait to cover every inch of her in kisses. It was also nice to find out how she is positioned. She is head down down with her face turned towards my left hip bone. Her bottom is under the right side of my ribs and her feet are kicking the left side of my ribs. Kicking the ribs is new this week. Everything looks good although this ultrasound is more for fun than for diagnostic purposes. The technician assured us that she didn't see anything to cause concern. I saw my doctor after the ultrasound and got a good report. Addison is measuring just right. Now I will start going to the doctor every two weeks until week 36. Up until now I have gone every four weeks. Hard to believe her due date is 9 weeks away.
The nursery has been completely painted and now we are in the process of cleaning the carpet. I cleaned it once last night and again this morning. I'll probably do it one more time before we bring the furniture in. We are going to the lake this weekend to get two pieces of her furniture. I'm hoping the crib will be in today or tomorrow, but I haven't heard anything yet. I'll post pictures soon.
Rebecca
Several of you who I don't get to see too often asked me to post a "preggie" picture. So here it is. This was taken a week ago and I feel about twice as big this week. I have had lots of people tell me I don't look 30 weeks pregnant, but at the end of most days I'm feeling that I'm even farther along. But I can't complain. I have felt great during this pregnancy. I've kept up my routine of walking an hour at least 6 days a week. I'm really going to miss my morning walks when I have to go back to work next week. Wayne will just have to start walking with me in the evenings.
Wayne went to see the urologist on a Wednesday in March 2005. Dr. Honea had explained that some men have an issue with veins that causes issues with fertility and that is the worst we were expecting. Since it was just supposed to be an ordinary visit and I had missed a good bit of work due to the many appointments I had, I didn't go to the doctor with Wayne. I remember him calling me as he was leaving the doctor's office late in the afternoon. He explained that when they did an ultrasound, the technician saw a couple of unusual spots. The doctor said there was a chance it was caused by an infection, but the more likely explanation was cancer. Never in a million years was that what I was expecting to hear. The doctor put Wayne on a strong antibiotic hoping that it was just an infection and told him to come back the next week. That was a terribly long week, but we are truly blessed by wonderful family and friends who lifted us up both physically when we needed it as well as lifting us up in prayer.
Of course I was there for the next appointment. Unfortunately the spots had not changed whatsoever. So, the doctor explained that the likelihood of these spots being cancerous was very high. He explained the process of surgery and follow-up treatments if they were needed. He explained that a biopsy was not an option because it would likely cause the spread of cells in the spot which could expose other body parts to the cancerous cells. He also explained that possible side effects could include total loss of fertility. So, he strongly urged us to consider using the cryopreservation service offered by our fertility program before the surgery. This was a suggestion we followed.
Wayne's surgery was scheduled for April 15th--the 10 year anniversary from our first date. Thankfully the surgery went very well. I was blessed to have a waiting room full of family and friends there to keep my mind occupied during the surgery. The doctor told me it would take a few days to get the pathology report back, but he definitely felt it was cancer and he thought they were able to take all of it out. After the pathology report came back, we found out it was cancer, but it was the slowest growing form of cancer found in that location and it had not spread into the lymphatic system. The doctor still recommended 4 weeks of daily radiation treatments, but felt Wayne's outcome would be very good. So, every day for 4 weeks, Wayne left work early and went to Brookwood for his radiation treatment. He took some heavy duty nausea medication daily which helped to prevent nausea, but his appetite was terrible and he was tired all the time. He was seen by the urologist and oncologist weekly during that summer. At the end of summer, he was given the "all clear"--no signs of cancer remaining. He continued to see the urologist and oncologist monthly for a few months and still continues to see them every six months even now. He is over 3 years past his initial diagnosis and chances of recurrence now a very slim. Praise God!!! This is just another example of God's hand working through our infertility. Wayne had no signs of the cancer when it was diagnosed and this type of cancer is usually diagnosed only after it has spread to another organ or system. At that point, the outcome is not as positive. So, if we hadn't been struggling with infertility, chances are Wayne's cancer would not have been diagnosed so early and he may not be the health man I'm married to now.
Through the process of trying to make sense of Wayne's cancer, I convinced myself that his early diagnosis was the reason we were having trouble getting pregnant. So I was convinced that as soon as we were able to try again, I would get pregnant. We had to wait 6 months after Wayne's last radiation treatment to get started back with the fertility treatments. Although his fertility was affected somewhat by the surgery and radiation, we still had the possibility of getting pregnant. It was just going to be a little more challenging. I was put on a new combination of oral medications and we tried IUI a couple more times. This just lead to another few months of disappointment and no baby. We met with the doctor again who suggested trying another combination of medications, but this time one of the medications would be injectable. This meant giving myself a shot in the stomach each evening for about a week every month. Before this new treatment plan could be approved, I had to demonstrate to the nurse that I could give myself a shot. So, I was given instructions on how to do it and then I had to give myself a shot of sterile water before I could leave the office with the prescription. I was able to do it despite my shaking hands and upset stomach. I left the office with the prescription for the injectables in hand and cried all the way to the specialty pharmacy to have it filled.
This was just the first in a long series of injectable medicines. Thankfully God gave me the strength to give myself the shots when I needed them. I also have a wonderful mother who was able to give me the hip shots that I wasn't able to reach myself. I hate to even think of the number of needles I have stuck into myself over the past 3 years. I know I filled up 3 sharps containers. But every single stick was worth it now that we have our little Addison on the way.
Nursery update: Our schedule has been very busy over the past couple weeks, so the nursery isn't quite as far along as I had hoped it would be by now. Wayne is determined to make it perfect, so every uneven surface has been smoothed and sanded before it is painted. I'm excited to report that he spent the day today painting and has now finished up the priming and painting for the walls. He's cleaning up the paint rollers now. All that is left should be the trim if those 2 coats of paint covered up that awful green sponge-painting.
We go Wednesday for the 4-D ultrasound and my next appointment with the OB. I'll try to post pictures on Wednesday.
Wednesday is also a big day for one of my co-workers, Daphne. She is in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia and his court date is scheduled for Wednesday. Please pray that all goes well for her and little Ben.
Until next time,
Rebecca
Before the summer gets away and I have no spare time left, I wanted to start sharing our infertility story. It's a rather lengthy story that I will condense as much as possible, but it will take a while to share 6 years. It's also a rather personal story--so this is your warning. I'll try to be as "politically correct" as possible. But I feel it's important to share our story because it is truly a story of God's faithfulness to us--a testimony that He is with us even when it may not feel that way at the moment. Looking back on our 6 year infertility journey, I can clearly see God's hand working on our behalf throughout so many situations. I hope that in some way this story will help someone who is facing their own fertility issues or even another challenging situation in life. It amazes me when I share that it took us 6 years to reach this point, so many people say "I know someone who tried for XX years" or "I've been trying to get pregnant for XX long." Infertility is much more common than you might think. We have several friends who are facing this same struggle even now. You probably know someone too.
Wayne and I got married in August 1998 between my junior and senior year in college. He knew when we got married that I wanted to put off having children for a few years because I promised my parents I would finish my graduate degree and doing so with a baby would be very hard. Since he's 8 years older than I am, he was ready to start a family, but willing to wait if that is what I wanted. So I graduated with my masters in August 2001 and then had to complete a 9 month fellowship to complete my licensing and certification process. So, in May 2002, we started trying to get pregnant. After 6 months with no luck, I mentioned it to my OB/GYN at my annual appointment and she gave me a prescription for Clomid. This is about as common as Tic Tacs I think because it seems like many people I have talked with have taken Clomid and gotten pregnant. Well for us, it worked about as well as Tic Tacs. So in May 2003, my OB/GYN referred me to the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) Fertility group at Brookwood Hospital. Unfortunately it took 3 months to get in for an initial appointment. The day before my appointment, the office called and said the doctor I was supposed to see had a family emergency and had to leave town. However, another doctor was going to see his patients. This was truly a blessing! The doctor we ended up seeing was Kathryn Honea, a reproductive endocronologist, who was one of the first doctors in the Southeast trained in ART. She actually trained in Australia back in the early 1980's when in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was being developed. She also worked with GE to create part of the technology that is currently used for IVF. And she was the director of the IVF program for their office. Not a big deal at the time, but it turned out to be very important. And most importantly, she is a wonderful, Christian woman.
The first appointment took about 3 hours. After meeting with the doctor and developing an initial plan, Wayne and I became human pin cushions. We were given physicals and tested for every possible infectious disease known to man. Needless to say I overcame my fear of needles very quickly (not so for Wayne although he is getting better). Any time I was doing a "medicated" cycle, I would go to the doctor at least once a week for labs. After a month of monitoring my hormone levels weekly, I was put on Clomid again. Boy was I disappointed. We had already been down that road. But this time they tested my hormones each week while on the Clomid. Through this they learned I wasn't ovulating as "strongly" as I needed to, but the Clomid went a long way in correcting this issue. So, the next month we did our first interuterine insemination (IUI) aka "artificial insemination" along with the Clomid. I was so sure that was all it would take for us to get pregnant. Unfortunately, this was just the first of many months of disappointment. I was crushed. Looking back, those first few failed attempts were definitely the hardest. I was so sure "this was the month" and I always got the phone call that my pregnancy test was negative. I was thankful to have supportive friends (especially Susan) who would pick up my pieces and help me put myself back together. After several months of Clomid and IUI, it was time for more heavy duty drugs.
About this time, Dr. Honea recommended Wayne see a urologist to make sure everything was okay with his part of this process. This was late 2004/early 2005. Of course being a guy, he put it off for a while but finally went in March 2005. That doctor's appointment would not only change our fertility plans, but would also change our lives.
Until the next time . . .
Rebecca
Wayne and I had the pleasure of keeping our two oldest nephews, Will (age 9) and Josh (age 7) from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. It was a wonderful time we enjoyed so much. I was definitely out-numbered 3 to 1 since my husband turns into a little boy when the others are around. It was wonderful to see them together. Sunday afternoon we played board games for about 4 hours and of course there was plenty of Play Station time too. On Monday evening after dinner, the boys played hide n seek while I sat in the swing and watched. It was quite entertaining. Will wins for the most creative hiding places--under Wayne's truck and inside the trash can which happened to be the base for the game. I enjoyed getting to "play mom" for those 3 days--cooking dinner, fixing "boo-boos" (scrapped up ankles are part of hide n seek), tucking them in at night. And it was great to see Wayne interacting with the boys and doing his part to take care of them. I got a sneak peek of things to come when I had to get the boys to mom's by about 6:45 Tuesday morning so I could go to school for registration. Fortunately, I was able to wake them up, hand them their clothes, and let them get ready on their own. That won't happen with Addison. :-) My morning routine will definitely take longer once she arrives, but I am definitely looking forward to it. I treasure the time I get to spend with "my boys", but have to admit in years past it has been hard to see them go after they spend a few days with us. Many tears have been shed after dropping the boys off with their mom and dad. But this year is definitely different. I'll admit I have missed them today, but know that I will get to "play mommy" for real in just 12 short weeks.
On the baby front--Wayne has gotten the ceiling of the nursery painted and has done all the prep work for painting. He took the last few days off from the nursery so he could spend time with the boys. The crib should be on a truck now on the way to the store, so hopefully we will have it within a week. I went to the doctor for a check-up last Wednesday and everything looks good. I had my glucose tolerance screening and failed it. So, I went back today for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. For those of you not familiar with this test, I had to fast starting at midnight and continued until my appointment. When I got there, the nurse tested my blood sugar and it was good. Then I had to drink an 8 ounce bottle of an orange flavored drink that was pure sugar. Then the waiting started. Every hour for 3 hours, I had my finger pricked to check my blood sugar. My first stick was borderline, but within the normal limits. The second time, my sugar was too high. By the third stick, it was back to normal. So, officially I passed, but I was encouraged to watch my sugar/carbohydrate intake and continue to exercise. After not having anything to eat for over 12 hours, I had a doozy of a headache when I left. Then after I ate, I felt really nauseous. So, I took Wayne's advice and took it easy the rest of the day. I'm still feeling a little "icky", but hope that will ease up with some time soon. I go back to the doctor on July 30th for another checkup and for my 4-D ultrasound.
This is the bedding we will use in Addison's room. It finally came in on Thursday. It's a sage and cream toile pattern with some sage and cream gingham as accents as well as cream colored chenille on the back of the quilt and on the bumpers. 
This is Addison's crib. I ordered it a week ago and hope to have it here in 5 weeks or less. It looks white in this picture, but it is actually antique white. Hopefully it will go well with the other furniture.
This room will soon be filled with a crib and other fun baby stuff for Addison. 
This is a dormer window area in Addison's nursery. Wayne plans to build a toy box to go in this area.
A close-up of the lovely greenish-blue sponge painting that is currently on the walls in Addison's nursery.
Wayne and I have finally decided on a name for our little girl. We actually have been talking about this name since shortly after I found out I was expecting. We have talked about many boy and girl names, but nothing stayed with us except for this one. We both like family names, so if it was a boy it would have had the name Wayne as a middle name. My dad's mother has a great middle name--Elizabeth--but my cousin already beat me to that one.
So, our little girl will be named Addison Jane. This name is actually from 2 of our grandmothers. Wayne's grandmother was Addie Mae and my mom's mom was Rita Jane. These were two of the most gentle, loving women I have ever know. They had very sweet spirits and were truly Godly women. I pray that our little one is very much like these wonderful women. I plan on calling her Addison, but know that it will probably shortened to Addie at times. Actually my brother and his two boys have already come up with a few nicknames--Addie, Addie J, and AJ.
It's hard to believe Addison is schedule to arrive in less than 16 weeks. My plan for this week is to get the room that will be her nursery cleaned out so her daddy can get it painted. Right now it is horrid--blobs of paint in a random pattern in an ugly bluish-green color. It was the previous owner's idea of a cute nursery for her little boy. It is the only room in the house we have not painted because I didn't want to have to paint it twice. I picked out this room for the nursery before we moved in. I'm just so happy we are finally getting to decorate it as a nursery. I will post "before" pictures soon.
Rebecca
Our ship, the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Sea, docked in Labadee, Haiti.
Standing on the east coast of Cozumel at El Mirador. 
Wayne climbing Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica while his jealous wife took pictures. I have always wanted to do this, but it was too dangerous to try while I was pregnant. Wayne has promised we will go back and do it again. 
Lazy in Labadee--Wish I was still there!!!
