New Year, New Goal(s)

Yay!! A New Year makes a perfect time and easy way to track starting the point for goals!!

     So you can probably guess what our #1 goal is for this year.....drumroll please!
We would love to add a sibling to our awesome family!

So a few things have to happen first. Luckily, it won't cost $24,000- so yay! It is only $4,000 and then some with medication such as progesterone injections to "trick" my body into thinking I am pregnant.
We do not have $4,000 right now but we are intentional about saving to get there! 

     Before we get the money together, I have another goal to get my body ready. The last time I was intentional about losing weight, I lost 30 pounds without even working out, just being mindful of what I eat (feel free to hate me, haha!). It's time to be intentional again! My goal is to lose at least 30 pounds again before we go on the IVF adventure. Sooooo- if you see me eating junk, you have permission to smack it out of my hand. 

 

Losing 30 pounds gives us time to save up- win/win, right?

     Weight was not the problem before and it is not the problem now, but it can't hurt to get healthier! We have been working on getting pregnant without the need for IVF...you hear all the success stories of doing IVF and then getting pregnant naturally after your body "knows what to do." We hoped and tried and held on to that......well, that's not our story and that's okay. I admit I have been holding on to hope that we wouldn't have to go back to transfer embryos. We have embryos in the freezer so we know there are more options.  Another fear thats always in the back of my mind is the miscarriage that we experienced after getting pregnant naturally. I think, what if that happens again... at least with IVF we are controlling the conception part. Our embryos took quite a bit of extra attention to get started so we know that getting the egg and sperm to stay together is the tough part. We know I can be pregnant and stay pregnant for OVER FORTY WEEKS (Thanks Lucy for proving that...). Who knows, maybe after I get pregnant twice, my body might figure out how to do it on its own?

     With Lucy getting all grown on us, I mean she stopped taking a bottle this week, she can practically get a job and drive the car tomorrow, we are ready for baby two! Can you imagine two Lucys??? Ahhh! My heart may explode! 
We do not know the gender of our embryos, so that is still a mystery! There are still exciting pieces of knowing the exact timeline. 

Obviously, she would be a great sister to at least one baby..... <3

15 months and unstoppable!

     It's Christmas time again and Lucy is loving EVERYTHING!!

It is so much fun when everything is exciting and Lucy is trying out new words every second of everyday. She's always been a "talker" but now we understand!

She loves to jump (which is really one foot lifting at a time), run, climb, dance, kiss, hug, high five, give knucks, go up and down stairs, and laugh. She's super active and oh so smart- but nothing surprises us anymore.She can take her shoes and socks off in the car faster than you can say seatbelt. Her favorite lullaby is "Happy Birthday." She craves outside even in the cold, knows most of the animal sounds, has 12 teeth, and goes on adventures daily. She has just enough hair for tiny pigtails or a side pony. She chases the dogs with every intention of riding them...so far they are very tolerant of her antics- and run away...

Lucy stats! 

24 lbs 15 oz- 31.5 inches tall! 

She knows a ton of words but her impressions of dogs that she knows is the BEST! She also insists on calling hats "Hattie" and refuses to say it right, haha! "HoHo" is big in our house right now. Milk, water, up, cheese, fish, night night, eat, go, no, yea, please, tanks, ok, book, read, hug, kiss and most names of people she knows....always right on cue. 

My absolute favorite right now is how she says her name! If you ask her name she will tell you CICI! And its adorable. 

Sorry and so not sorry for picture and video overload. Now that she runs around like a maniac, I catch them when I can and take video when I can't catch her. I am so thankful we live in a time that I can catch these memories as they are happening. I have gone back to my old blogs, pictures and videos and relived those moments until my heart is just bursting. 

We are working on plans for new adventures next year and the good news is that these adventures cost a whole lot less than $18,000. So stay positive with us.. we've got big plans. ;)

Five day embryo, 3 months old and 15 months old. Oh my heart... each a year apart.

Donuts on a Sunday morning. YUM! 

Almost 14 months! 🌟

      Oh sweet Lucy! Overnight, she decided to be a tiny human instead of a baby! 

     All of the sudden, she can follow directions like, "Pick your shoes up." She can say all kinds of words, but the most adorable are "Ab-beeee and Am-Me" (Abby and Aimee). Matt thinks its just hilarious as she argues with me when I try to get her to call me momma!

 She knows sign language for eat, more, please, and thank you- which is super cool!

     She eats what we eat and sleeps when we sleep (and then some!). It is just so neat how out of nowhere, she can communicate and understand so much now. Also, she is hilarious. She has the fake "haha" and cheesy smile down pat. She also thinks nose boops and upside down tickles are the best things in the world. She is obsessed with Gran's neighbor's dog, Minnie. Which is so funny, because she loves Otis, Brody and Jake- but LOOOOVES Minnie. Her favorite activities include waking Minnie up, eating oatmeal with Gran, climbing on the bricks in front of the fireplace, wrestling with a blow up pickle (thanks Ab and Em,...), shooting the basketball, sorting and reorganizing laundry, and stomping her cute little feet through Target. She went from fastest crawler in New Albany to running at full speed! 
    Speaking of Target.... My budget for buying her clothes is completely blown until sometime next year. Turns out, as she gets cuter- so do the clothes! 
This last purchase was totally worth it though! I mean, a "stay positive" hoodie?!?! How could I not??

There is so much more fun to be had!

Lucy is ONE!

Month 12!! We made it!! And who else gets to celebrate turning one with being featured on the news?!?!?  This girl!! Check out the link if you missed the story! 

Lucy Bratcher's TV debut


Lucy Stats: 
31 inches long
23 lbs 6 oz
90-95 percentile for everything! 
Speedy crawler, careful walker
No tears for her one year shots, but she was pretty loudly disagreeing with the idea.....

Sweet Lucy girl loves everything.
She got to eat cake three days in a row, received a mountain of presents, and has a million pictures to show off!
Birthday weekend started on Thursday with a visit to see Dr. Krause. The office staff helped me time out a visit just right and we got to play and catch up with our dear friend and doctor. It really reminded me of all the visits to the office when things weren't going our way and we were working so hard to make Lucy a reality. It was such a good reminder to stick with it and that we have so much support from so many.  After our visit, we went to NAHS to watch Slate Run students in Cinderella! It was so cute and so perfect for Lucy to be in the audience. It was a student production so it was shorter that usual and had a good intermission so she could wiggle. She "ooooo-ed" and "aaahhhhh-ed" at all the right times and had an audience of her own when we had a minute to catch up with our friends!

      

     On Friday, her birthday, we didn't get a picture (darn it) of my school family but everyone wore their "Think Positive" shirts and it was AWESOME. Lucy got to come visit my class and of course, she was ready to perform. She loved them and they loved her! We went out to dinner, just the three of us and then let Lucy dig into a piece of cake that she basically just smeared on the table.

   On Saturday, we went to the Fall Flea (just like last year) and then got ready for her cake smash photo shoot with the wonderful Kelly Goree. Lucy was so cooperative and Kelly knew just where to go and how to get the right light. In fact, we are having a hard time choosing just some of the photos, they are all so good!

On Sunday, we were just as excited as Lucy to have friends and family celebrate with us. I wish we could've invited everyone we know, because we know you love Lucy...but our house is just not that big. We could have a party each week!!! Lucy was the star of the show and she absolutely loved it. I was afraid of a fussy birthday girl and we didn't know how she would respond to having such a big audience but she was a dream. We were able to set up things while she napped and we ended up waking her up (from a 2.5 hour nap) as people came in to see her. She was thrilled to have everyones attention and was so sweet to be around. 

Being one is so fun! She conquered the molar that came in last week.... she's saying words that actually make sense, she also has this sense of adventure because she understands so much and cannot wait to get into the next mess!  She just keeps getting cuter and cuter and I don't know how she does it. She isn't a baby anymore and although it seems like just yesterday we were rolling her into a baby burrito- it also doesn't. We have packed so much living into those 365 days. Yes, 52 weeks have gone by since we became a family of three....but really ever since we found out we were pregnant, life has swirled around and just kept us rolling! I remember when life stood still, when it seemed like everyday was exactly the same as the last. I remember thinking, things are never going to change and here we are. Nothing stays the same now and I love it. She has absolutely woken up our sense of adventure, our professional scheduling skills, and our love for living life to the absolute fullest. Lucy is just amazing. 

We are looking forward to every next adventure and every new day! 
And now that you are part of this- hang in there because you are going too. <3

And the countdown begins!!!

Ahhhh!! The countdown to Lucy turning ONE!! How can it be, right? 

Yep, this baby is going to turn one on September 15.... 

  Turns out, 11 months is the new 3 years, ha! This girl has a plan, she just can't tell us in English. She always seems to be accomplishing something. She is climbing, crawling, scooting and chasing all over the place- we just know she will be walking any minute now!  She's telling us what she likes and dislikes and sometimes we understand. She's a lovey little snuggler when she wants to slow down.  She mimics our words and sounds and I swear she says, "Hold on." HA! 

She is as fearless as ever and continues to push her strength and limits. 

 Flash back to September of last year! 

Dinner with cousins! 

 We've survived her first bruised nose, first busted lip and currently surviving her first ear ache. :( 
She's been to the drive-in, although not her first time... she's visited Slate Run Temporary about a million times.... and she visited the Slugger Bat Museum for the first time! She heard all about the eclipse, but I'm pretty sure she was napping.  :) She loves all things to do with noise and action. Kids are her favorite audience but she will show off for just about anyone who will acknowledge her. She's visited hot air balloons and she rode the carousal at Sellersburg Celebrates! She seemed to love it! 

  

Sadness with her sadness doll.

Ta-DA!

 Learning her Conscious Discipline breathing techniques.

 Wild Child loved the hot air balloons!!

So big! 

Excited to keep living this adventure! 

#ThinkPositive #LovelyLittleLucy

#LifeWithLucy