A Christmas Themed Weekend

This weekend we went to have breakfast with Santa at the Indiana State Museum, and ride the L.S. Ayres Christmas train.  ella and Ryder had so much fun.  This year was a little better with Santa, no tears this year.  After, we met Aunt Jessi and Aunt Renee at the Children's Museum and went through Jolly Days and saw Santa again, the second time went even better.

That's Ella on the left coming down by herself.

She dressed up like a penguin at the Polar Bears and Penguins exhibit and slid down on her belly like a penguin.

Is that a smile I see?

She even rode the reindeer on the carousel.

L.S. Ayres train at the State Museum.

So shocked when she walked up to the polar bear on her own!

Our Thanksgiving Week

So our Thanksgiving week went off as a success. We started last weekend by going to Great Wolf Lodge with Joni, Ricky, and Ryder. Ella and Ryder loved the water, they were so cute.

Ella and Ryder playing in the pool

The hotel was decorated like a giant lodge with stuffed animals everywhere

Ella got her wolf ears at dinner.

We played in the arcade after dinner.

After coming home, our tree had lost all of its leaves, so Jason and Ella raked them and played in them.

Wednesday, Jason and I started getting ready for our first Thanksgiving at our house by shopping early and setting the tables up the night before. I was pretty happy with how everything turned out. We had a lot of Jason's family over and a lot of great food. I think everyone had a really good time. Can't wait for next year!

I made the wreath about 3 weeks ago, the wheat stalks were much perkier then.

I found these leaf placemats at Bed Bath and Beyond for a steal, and the plates were super cheap too.

I purchased burlap at the local fabric store, and made it into a table runner and table cloth for the kids table.

I made the kids table with printables from: Shindig Parties.

Yay an egg finally!

Went to my ultrasound today. I have one good egg that is growing. Bad news is, that it will be ready on Monday which means I have to give myself the injection on Sunday morning, and Jason has to work on Monday. This shot isn't anything like the ones I gave myself during my pregnancy with Ella. The needle is about an inch longer and much larger and I have to do it in my butt or thigh.
We definitely have to do the IUI since Jason will be preoccupied at work, but hopefully everything works out and he gets desk relief to come to the doctors office for his part ;) So I guess I will know something more in a couple of weeks now. Keeping my fingers crossed.

1st Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound today. I still had cysts present, and only 2 really small follicles, 9mm (should be 18mm). Normally 8-12 follicles develop each month, one becomes dominant and ovulates, and the others shrink back.
So the doctor said we could come back in on Wednesday to see if the small follicles grew any, but he didn't think they would because they were too immature. So we'll do it all again next month and hope for more follicles.

Ultrasounds

Quick update on our next doctor's appointments. I just scheduled three ultrasounds for the 15th, 17th, and 19th of November. We will find out whether the Clomid dosage is high enough to induce follicles to develop. If we find one, then I get a shot to start ovulation.
We've talked to other couples who have gone through the same fertility steps, and they have all suggested we do the IUI (intra uterine insemination) first. It seems thats how they all finally got pregnant and in hindsight they wished they had just tried it first instead of getting let down the months prior. We've talked about whether to try the old fashioned way (with the exception of the Clomid, ultrasounds, and LH shot ;) or go straight to the IUI. I don't think we will decide until last minute. I'll keep you updated.

Ella's Christmas List (for Pappaw and Grandma and anyone else)

So November is here, and I've only been thinking about Christmas shopping. The other day I took Ella to Target for some last minute Halloween stuff and we ended up in the toy department for almost an hour. Usually we don't leave the toy department without some tears and screaming (gotta love the terrible two's), but this time we just walked up and down the aisles, only stopping at a few toys that Ella played with then moved on to the next. Today we were at Walmart and had another calm trip through the toy department; I was so proud. So I thought I would post the toys that Ella seemed to check out the most at both stores.

She really like the Mr and Mrs. Potato Head Silly Suitcases.

CRUNCHER- believe it or not, she's really got a thing for dinosaurs.

I think she may be ready for a real bicycle this spring. She's finally got the pedaling and steering down on her trike.

Ella still really loves any of the Fisher Price Little People. She's also really into building things with the larger Legos or smaller Mega Blocks, but she's not quite ready for the tiny Lego pieces yet. She really likes trains too. She wears size 4T in just about everything now.

Her favorite TV shows are:    Dora (of course), Ni-Hao Kai-Lan, Olivia, WowWow Wubzy, and Strawberry Shortcakes New Adventures

Also, for mom and dad, some new movies for the car. Maybe the classic Disney movies like Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, or any others. She really like the Disney Princess dolls, so maybe she'll get into the movies in the car.

Of course, I left out what Jason and I are getting her. She's the easy one this year. Maybe everyone else could post their Christmas Lists too ;)

Pumpkin Patch, Swimming, and Halloween Costumes

We took Ella to AppleWorks this past weekend. I've finally figured out how to upload my pictures on my new computer, so here are a few of my favorites:

 

First we went to the play area with the pumpkins and hay bales.

We rode the train and fed animals.

Then picked out our pumpkins. Ella wore her pink sunglasses the whole time.

The next day we went to the Plainfield Indoor Splash Park, with her cousins. It was so warm in there, and nice to swim when its on 58 degrees outside.

I also finished up our Halloween costumes today. Here's a preview of Jason's, he had a work costume party tonight.

 

We have round one of trick-or-treating on Saturday the 30th, so I will post pics of all our costumes then.

Thanksgiving Planning

So Jason and I decided to try Thanksgiving at our house this year. For the past four years we have driven from Columbus an hour to his family's only to stay for an hour or two. Then we would drive another hour to my family's and stay until dark, only to drive another hour and a half home. Since we had Ella, it makes it even harder because she always wants to stay at each place. And hopefully next year, there will be another little one, so we thought we would start this year for a test drive.
Everyone who knows me, knows that I get a little obsessive with planning things. So with only four weeks left until Thanksgiving, I've officially started planning. I already have my spreadsheet of guests and the menu of who is bringing what. Now all I have left is to plan the actual gathering, decorations and other things. I've been searching online, between homework assignments, for fun Thanksgiving sites. Here are some of my favorites:


These chic color schemes and decorating ideas from Hostess with the Mostess daily blog are so neat. My brain is already turning. Below is another inexpensive but cute centerpiece from HWTM daily blog.

Love these candle centerpieces from  Country Living. There are several good ideas in the slideshow. Slide 17 has directions how to make this one.

This pillow idea from BHG.com is easy and festive. I have so many throw pillows around the house, I could easily make a cover for every holiday! There are other easy fall decorating projects on this slideshow. Directions for the pillow are on slide 4. The picture frame idea could be an interesting take on a door wreath.

These felt trivets from MarthaStewart.com are also easy and inexpensive to protect hands and tabletops from hot side dishes.

Here is the first page of my planning spreadsheet. I'm working on a timeline for another page.

I'll keep you posted on what I end up making and using for Thanksgiving this year.

Doctor's Appointment

For those of you who know, Jason and I have been trying to get pregnant again since Ella's 1st birthday in 2009. In May 2010, my doctor started me on Clomid to try to induce cycles for us to conceive. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome when I was 16 or 17, and always knew that it could be difficult to conceive because of the cysts and the hormones they release. Thats why we were so surprised when we found out we were pregnant with Ella (I had a large cyst rupture the month before, we think I ovulated because my progesterone was low enough without the cyst). We were so happy when she arrived, and she has blessed our lives everyday since. Which is why we want to have more!
So I have been on Clomid since May, with no results. I went to the doctor today for a follow up, and he said that because I never even had a regular cycle during the past 6 months, that we were going to get aggressive. Starting with my next cycle, they are doubling the dosage of Clomid. About halfway into my cycle, I will actually go to the doctors office 3 or 4 times for ultrasounds to see if I have any mature follicles. When I do, they will give me a shot of Luteinizing Hormone to induce ovulation (basically it makes my ovaries release an egg, which they haven't been doing on their own). So that is where we are now. Jason is in training right now, so I haven't even told him today, but I think he will be happy because this should be much cheaper than we were expecting from this appointment. So you are some of the first to know!

Welcome to our blog!

I have a few friends who have blogs on blogspot.com, and I've always loved peeking into their lives and keeping updated. I decided to start this blog to keep everyone update on our Peasley Family. Mostly this is prompted by our desire to have more children, and for those of you who know us well, know that we have been having fertility "issues" for well over a year now. This way we can keep everyone updated on how that is currently going, and updates on our family as well. I hope everyone enjoys peeking into our lives.