BIG Changes

I am so very proud of my husband. I always have been. He served 6 years in the USAF, graduated from TTU, and started a career as the GIS Coordinator for Lubbock Emergency Communication District (Lubbock County 9-1-1). Today, I am even more proud of him. He accepted a position with an oil company out of Midland and will be starting March 4th. We are both excited and nervous. Change always brings those fears of "what if," but we are trusting God that this is where he needs to be right now. He will be in training for a couple of weeks then will go out into the field. There are a lot of unknowns right now, but as of now, we are staying put in Lubbock. I will continue to work with the company I am with, and Harper will stay in her PDO program twice a week.

With this new career, comes some changes with our TTC journey. I just ended my 5th round of the clomid/metformin combination. The hpt was negative. I thought I would be completely disappointed, but I have come to the point where I am content with just Harper right now. We definitely want more kids, but with all of these changes happening, I know God has a plan. I believe that more than ever right now. I met with my Dr last month, and we discussed that if I didn't get pregnant this 5th round, he wanted me to have an HSG, and Michael would have to have a test as well. I was very apprehensive about all of it. With this new career change, medical benefits for family members don't start until after 90 days from the first day of work. So for now, we are on a break. I am at peace with this and feel a sense of relief. TTC is so stressful.

If you have a chance, please keep our family in your prayers.

Valentine's Day 2012

I used to loathe Valentine's Day. I remember my freshman year in college, we all wore black that day. It wasn't that we were all single. I actually had a Valentine's date with a guy who drove me to Dallas that afternoon (from Abilene), took me to the Cheesecake Factory, and then to a Dallas Stars game. I mean, that was pretty romantic for a Valentine's date...let alone a FIRST date.

Anyway, now that I have a daughter, I will find any excuse to dress her up. Valentine's Day is no exception.

This picture was from the day before Valentine's Day. With my job, comes the opportunity to meet new people on a daily basis and love on their kids. I definitely have my favorites. Don't tell anyone. Well, one of the moms also has a daughter named Harper, and I LOVE that little girl. Seriously. She may be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. It also doesn't hurt that she looks SO much like my niece Sarah Jane. Her mom made my Harper this shirt for Valentine's Day. So sweet!

Thanks to Pinterest, I have a million projects running through my head all of the time. Since Harper is in school, I had an excuse for a project! I LOVE how her Valentine's cards turned out. So freakin' cute.
Harper had a special Valentine's Day chapel and party at her school. Each class got on stage and "sang" a song. Why is it in quotes? Because her class just sat there and stared into the audience wondering why in the heck all of these crazy people were smiling and laughing at them.

Next came the party with lots of yummy food. Isn't Harper's shirt awesome?! Her GG (my friend Gerianne) made it.
Harper obviously was excited about taking a picture with me. Stinker.

Michael and I never really buy each other gifts for any holidays. I hate getting flowers because I see it as a waste of money, and he's a guy....so he's probably relieved I'm not big on gifts! We would much rather just spoil our girl. :)

Oh, and a fun fact...Michael and I never celebrated a Valentine's Day together until we were married. :) We went on our first date March 17, 2006, got engaged July 3, 2006, and married December 23, 2006.

How was your Valentine's Day?

RSV

At the beginning of last week, Harper started coughing then started running a fever on Wednesday. I took her into the doctor thinking he would just prescribe some cough medicine and maybe an antibiotic since her throat was red, and she wasn't eating well. When we got to the doctor, he sent us down to the lab to test her for RSV. I thought to myself this was silly. Of course she doesn't have RSV. Only infants get that, right?! Wrong. (I mean, I know RSV is common, and adults have it all the time but usually don't know because it's symptoms are those of a common cold.) Anyway, I asked how long she would be contagious. He said a week. I laughed...he didn't. Apparently, he wasn't making a joke. She had already been sick for 4 days so he said she would be fine by Monday. All he told us to do was albuterol/nebulizer treatments. The breathing treatments made her a crazy, psychotic person. She would run around laughing at one point then throw herself on the floor in a crying fit. It was a HARD couple of days.

The first night, I just gave her a treatment while she was asleep.

The next day, she took to the dragon mask a lot better than I predicted. It helped that she got to watch Olivia while wearing it.
Thursday she practically laid on the floor all day.
Thursday afternoon I decided to take one of the sides of her crib off to see how she would like it. She LOVED it....but didn't want to sleep in it. So I put the side back on that night. :)
The next day was pretty much the same. She would only eat crackers.
She started to perk up on Saturday and still tolerating the treatments.
By Saturday evening, she was feeling so much better. Dress up always makes a girl feel better!
She is hardly coughing at all now and feeling much better. I, on the other hand, have had a headache for the past couple of days and now can't hear out of my left ear. This too shall pass....hopefully.

Rachel {Maternity Photographer}

Rachel is due at the end of February, and we didn't have much time left to get these done before Miss Lila arrives! I can't wait to meet your sweet baby!

Thank you so much for allowing me to capture this time in your lives!