Attitude

Just saw this quote on someone's facebook page and fell in love with it instantly. 
"We have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our circumstances. We cannot change that people will act in a certain way. The only string we have to play is our attitude. We are in charge of our attitude."

My mom will probably shoot me for repeating this, well, actually I am not really sure if she even reads my blog so I might be ok. 

Last night after we were at the doctor's office for 2 1/2 hours with Jillian, I called my mom. Jillian is OK, just needed to check a few things with her growth. Back to the phone call with my mom, I was excited to call her because Thursday was the first time I was able to talk to her on the phone in almost 2 weeks and I knew she would answer last night. This last round of chemo landed her in the hospital with some nasty infections that almost ended her time with us, but she is a tough cookie and is doing much better. While I was talking with my mom she said she was trying to find the positives in this whole situation. She has always encouraged us to do this throughout our life. Focus on the positives, find the positives, what are the positives, it will get better. Those are words I have heard my entire life from her. 
So last night, she said she finally found a positive in all that she is currently going through and dealing with.       Here it is:  She doesn't have to shave her legs for a long time. 

I burst out laughing and felt the best stress relief I have ever felt. My mom nailed it. It just goes back to always having hope and focusing on the positives :) Attitude IS truly everything!!

First Day of School

Monday, August 19 was our first day of school for the 2013 school year. I have 21 students in my homeroom and I am excited to get this first week under our belt and in our groove!  Jillian and I had our first first day of school picture taken together. It was hard leaving her and realizing that I am back at work again. I know she is in great hands and will be just fine. Right now I am able to go and feed her at 11:00 so that is really nice. 

 Brendan, Carter and I had our annual first day of school picture. Brendan is in 4th grade and Carter is in 2nd. I love these two yahoos to pieces and I love seeing them in the hallways. I only get a head nod from Brendan but I still get a big hello from Carter :)

 Here is my homeroom on the first day! I have 7 more students than last year so it is a little different, but it should be a fun year!

Daddy does the funniest things!

Watching Bill and Jillian is pretty darn cool. I love the energy he has with Jillian and how excited he is to be with her. I always knew Bill would be a great dad but I guess I didn't realize the feelings I would have watching him get to be a dad.

 Jillian could play "Peek-A-Boo" for hours. She doesn't fully get the concept yet but she loves when we put a blanket over her and pull it off. She squeals with delight and gives the biggest smiles!

Bath time with Daddy

Bill has been a bit out of commission these past weeks. He had a discectomy on his back a few weeks ago and is now getting back into the swing of things. One of our favorite activities with Jillian, is bath time! It is so fun to watch her enjoy her time in the water!

First Day of Daycare

Last Wednesday was Jillian's first day of daycare. It was a tough day for mommy but Jillian did just fine. She has the best care and gets to hang out with some pretty cool kids! 

Here she was ready to go!

 Jillian shouted with JOY when we handed her over to Karen. She is a bit of a drama princess!

Morgan's Minnie Mouse 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Morgan's 2nd birthday a few weeks ago! We had a Minnie Mouse party :) Morgan is a sweet, loving adorable 2 year old! She loves her role as big cousin to Jillian. Morgan maybe a little shy around others, but she has an awesome personality around friends and family. She is so funny and adorable! We are lucky to have this little lady in our lives!

One year ago today!!

"When the world says give up, Hope whispers, one more time."

One year ago today, Bill and I were getting ready for bed, reflecting on the day and thinking, boy I hope this works! I am very open about our fertility road and sometimes feel a little bit bitter that we have to travel it. However, the HOPE shines through it all and the HAPPINESS we feel because of God's grace and our sweet girl outshines all of it.
Sophie and Jillian are miracle babies. Sophie was our only fresh cycle baby while Jillian is our frozen baby :) One year ago today, we transfered Jillian. We were scared beyond belief! We knew this was it. If the transfer didn't work, we were done. Thankfully we kept our faith, had lots of prayer warriors and here we are today!
I can walk through every hour of that day, what we were doing, how we felt and who we saw. I remember the drive there and the drive home. We talked about what our life would be like one year later. We talked about how we would be attending Summerfest and Morgan's birthday. We talked about how we would be holding our 3 month old baby, wondering if we would have twins, if we would have a girl (s) or a boy (s). It was a time full of hope and trepidation.
NOW HERE WE ARE! We attended Summerfest today holding our 4 month old little girl (she was a little early) with our friend Shannon and her girls. Tomorrow we will go to Morgan's 2nd birthday party.
It is amazing what we have been through these past years and what we are dealing with now. Things, I never thought I could do. But I can, we can. Why? Because we are never alone. God carries us, walks with us and keeps us in his arms  always.

Our little lady is growing, giggling and a little gassy ;)

Jillian Josephine is the love of our lives and we are beyond thankful to have her with us!