A big scare turned into a PERFECT day!

For a few days I had cramping and pressure. At first I didn't think anything of it but on Wednesday it got really severe and painful. Of course our doctor doesn't work on Wednesdays. I left a message with his nurse who called me back and told me to take it easy and drink lots of fluids and they'll give me a call Thursday after they talk to Dr. Markham. SERIOUSLY....are you crazy, I feel like something is wrong and you want me to take it easy! I called my mother-in-laws good friend Julie who is a SAINT! She is a nurse at the clinic we go to. I called her and she knew our history of a previous miscarriage and told me to come to her office and we would at least do a doppler. I rushed out of work, Brent met me at her office and we heard this perfect little heart beat. I just started to cry. Julie told me anytime I needed to come in and hear the heartbeat give her a call she didn't care if it was going to be 20+ more times!

However, I was still having pressure and cramping so the next day they ordered an ultra sound. We hadn't seen our baby since our 6 week ultrasound. Words can not express the love and emotion that we have for this baby and seeing that it looked like a baby is amazing. I could have stayed in that room watching its arms and legs move all over for the entire day! Everything looks great, the baby is breech and really low so that would explain the pressure and cramping!

While we were in there the baby kept sticking its tongue out and putting its fist in its mouth. I know I was emotional about it due to thinking something was wrong, but I think even Brent got a little lump in his throat during that moment. It was such a special moment for the two of us. We worked so hard to have that moment to share together and I will never forget it, and couldn't have asked for a better person to experience it with!

We didn't find out the sex of the baby even though we could have. The ultrasound tech just had us turn away during that part! I kept wanting to peek but it will be so exciting to see what we're having in May. I dream of the look in Brent's eyes when we're told if its a boy or girl! I am very anxious for that day!

We were told everything looks perfect and that they aren't going to worry about the baby being breech until later since there is a lot of room and time for it to turn around. I shared this picture with my brother-in-laws and their comments were "looks like a boy, look at the size of that head" or "wow check out those shoulders, good luck" Thanks guys! Jerks!

I will leave you with one of the pictures from our horrible feeling turned perfect! I am so anxious for May to get here!!!

Baby Schumacher- 18 weeks old



Bumpdate: Almost 17 weeks

How far along: Almost 17 weeks

Size of Baby: 5.1 inches or 5.9 ounces (the size of an onion)

Maternity Clothes: Little bit of both! Maternity pants are more comfy but can still wear some of my regular sweaters with a long tank top underneath.

Gender: Guess we'll all find out in May cause we're going to let it be a surprise!

Movement: Not yet, but super excited to start feeling our little baby!

Sleep: Can't get enough!

What I miss: Being able to eat fish whenever I want

Symptoms: Still having morning sickness. I usually just get sick once every morning around 7am, then I'm good for the day!

Cravings: Oreos and milk

Best Moment of the Week: Having a great 16 week check up and hearing Dr. Markham tell us our baby is growing perfect!

Looking Forward To: Our 20 week appointment and ultrasound. We haven't had an ultra sound since 6 weeks.

In other news we had quite the snow storm yesterday. It started snowing about 10am and didn't stop for a good 10 to 12 hours later. We ended up with a few inches of snow and under the snow there is quiet a bit of ice since it rained early yesterday morning.

Our timber just west of our house

Another view of the timber

I am very grateful for my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Last year I worked from home while living on gravel roads, so I didn't have to travel to work when the weather was bad. I worked yesterday and drove home during the storm and had NO PROBLEMS! Our lane way has a bit of an incline to get into the garage and I didn't have to take a running start since I had the jeep! I feel a lot better not being so low to the ground this winter also.

And lets not forget my 1st baby! (Its ok Dad I know your rolling your eyes) Wrigley is loving the snow! He stays outside all the time and yep that means during this super cold time of the year! He officially has his "winter coat" so he stays really warm. Isn't he just precious!!

Sorry for the mess this is on the back porch. I'll be honest we don't keep it picked up!

This is what I think Wrigley was thinking during this picture "If I just close my eyes maybe she'll stop taking pictures" haha

This weekend Brent's relatives were deer hunting at our place. We stopped by and talked to them while they were finishing up today and asked them if Wrigley was in their way at all, of course they enjoyed him but they gave him a new name they call Wrigley "White Fang"....hmm..ok? I don't think he looks like a white fang but its pretty funny.

Wrigley has also made a new friend. The semi driver Jamie who hauls my father-in-laws grain from our house said "Your dog loves to wrestle" apparently  Jamie played and wrestled with Wrigley for about an hour one afternoon while waiting for a truck to be loaded! Wrigley loves attention!

And finally, Please keep my Grandpa Rosien in your prayers for his recent lung cancer diagnosis. He will be having surgery December 23rd to remove the tumors!

Remembering Tom

It was a very sad day for the Schumacher family and many others yesterday. Brent's Uncle Tom Schumacher passed away unexpectedly Friday afternoon. Tom had surgery about 2 weeks ago to fix his colon from problems from diverticulitis. He spent some time in the hospital but was discharged early this week. He took a turn for the worse and passed away after complications from surgery. Our hearts are very heavy while we are mourning the loss of a great husband, father, grandfather, uncle, son, and brother. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Schumacher siblings: Back row: Chuck, Galen, Steve Front row: Mae, Tom, Berniece

"When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure"- Author Unknown

BUMPDATE: 12 WEEKS

Every few weeks I will answer this little survey to show changes and keep everyone up to date.

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of Baby: 2 inches (about the size of a lime)

Maternity Clothes: I had to wear maternity pants to a wedding last night because none of my dress pants fit comfortably. Other than that still in all my regular clothes

Gender: Guess we'll all find out in May cause we're going to let it be a surprise!

Movement: Too early...but I'm really excited for that moment to come

Sleep: Sleep has been ok, I'm a stomach sleeper so this week I have really tried to sleep on my side. It is definitely  not as comfortable for me. Also, I'm waking up about 1 or 2 times a night to go to the bathroom.

What I miss: I really miss my Diet Pepsi. But not having it is totally worth it.

Symptoms: Week 6, 7, and 8 I had "morning sickness" pretty much all day. Nothing sounded good to eat, lots of smells bothered me, and I felt like I was dizzy and going to throw up constantly. Then I felt tired and couldn't get enough sleep...this sometimes still hits me and I just want to sleep all afternoon.

Cravings: McDonald's french fries dipped in Mayo! I liked those before I was pregnant but some days that is all I want to eat!

Best Moment of the Week: Brent got to hear the baby's heartbeat. Heart rate was 170. I think I could listen to the sound of our baby's heart beat all day every day! Also, not having to be on progesterone anymore!

Faith in God includes Faith in His timing...

As you can tell from the picture above YES WE ARE PREGNANT! We have been smiling from ear to ear for a few weeks. I can't not express how much the power of prayer works. This is a miracle and we couldn't be happier.

Our story begins about 2 years ago when we found out we were going to struggle getting pregnant. When I heard that I didn't let it bother me because we were NOT ready to start a family so I didn't realize what our lives were about to endure.

We went through tests, procedures, blood work, you name it we endured it trying to figure out how to get pregnant. Finally April 2010 we found out we were pregnant, that ended in May 2010 with a miscarriage. But, we tried to keep positive and realize God has a plan for us. This summer we went to a fertility clinic and met Dr. Victoria Maclin. She told us enough of the Clomid treatments since I had gone through 9 cycles of Clomid. Since I was already being prescribed 200mg of Clomid (highest dose they allow) every cycle she said if we want to be parents its time to go a different route. That route was IUI (Intrauterine insemination) We decided we were going to go that route even though it meant giving myself injections, medications, and an expensive procedure it was worth it to both of us.

BUT..we wanted to wait a few months. So, as soon as I got my "cycle" (sorry guys if that's graphic, but its our story) I was to start the birth control. Well, no period came....so they prescribe Provera (induces a period...after 10 days of that...still NO period) SO, blood work it is. My progesterone level was elevated, but not enough for them to consider pregnancy so they had me start the Nuva Ring even without getting a period so we could get our cycles going!

After about 2 weeks of the Nuva Ring I felt like CRAP, I kept asking the Pharmacist that I work with if I felt this way because of the hormones in the birth control, that usually doesn't happen so she thought maybe I was just getting the flu or something. I started to feel better so I decided to go to Minnesota with my in-laws for our nephews Peyton and Maddox's birthday parties. When I got home after a weekend away (late Sunday night) I felt HORRIBLE, so I took it upon myself to take a pregnancy test. If it was negative (and I was betting it was going to be) I would just throw it away and hope I felt better soon. While reading the package it said wait 3-5 minutes (why I was reading the package I don't know, I've used plenty of those lately) OH MY GOSH....Not even 10 seconds had gone by and there were 2 lines! I FREAKED!!!!!!!! I had never in my LIFE expected it to be positive!! I yelled for Brent and made him inspect it to be sure...he told me to take another, of course I only had one! So  we drove 10 minutes one way into Harlan to buy some more! Yep, they were all positive. At this point we both have tears in our eyes, confused how on NO meds we were pregnant.

I can't tell you how it worked, but all I can say is the POWER of God and prayer from all of those who knew to pray for us works in mysterious ways. Our dream has come TRUE! WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS! Baby Schumacher is due in May!

So, thank you to every single person who has said a prayer for us on this journey to become parents! We have dreamt of the day to say we were pregnant and it was here! Everything is going great. We have had 2 ultrasounds saw the heartbeat twice and saw our little Jelly Bean (that's what it looked like to me). I should say other than being SUPER sick, everything is GREAT and right on track! We go in for our second OB appointment next Monday!

So, we ask that you switch your prayers from getting us pregnant to keeping this a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby! We both know this is an act of God because there really is NO way I should have gotten pregnant, but I am .... I AM PREGNANT and that is all that matters.

However, my heart still aches for all the friends I have made along our infertility journey still struggling with infertility. Infertility affects 1 in 6 couples, and yes even though we're pregnant now, we are still one of those couples.

I leave our friends who are struggling with this verse. Brent and I have lived by this verse our entire journey and I hope you can find comfort in it also!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11

Curly Hair Tutorial

I have struggled for YEARS with my curls. I hear all the time how blessed I am to have such beautiful thick curly hair. However, those saying that do not have THICK CURLY HAIR!! We always want what we don't have!

I like to tease my mom about when my sister Ashley and I were younger she used to spend lots of time on Ashley's beautiful thick straight hair and then when it came to my turn to get my hair done for the day I got a couple sprays of water and sent on my way! Yes, that is a little exaggerated, but kind of true! My mom will argue back then they didn't have the product for kids like they do now..ok ok...I survived, just took me many years to figure out how to style it!

I think I've tried just about every type of product out there for curly hair. From leave in conditioners, gel, mousse, spray gel, etc. etc. etc. I also went through the stage of loving crunchy curls....makes me almost gag now! YUCK!

People with curly hair have to realize their hair has mind of its own, and if it wants to be crazy its going to. Also, mother nature doesn't help in that department.

With a mother in law who is a hair stylist, I use her discounts to my advantage! Otherwise I don't think I'd be able to try all the different products I have used.

The last few months I have been trying to figure out a way to not need gel or mousse and barely any hairspray. I FINALLY FOUND IT!!! What I think is the best product out there for curly hair if used right! Here is how I do my hair from start to finish:

• Wash hair and condition. I use different shampoo's and conditioners so for me the products doesn't matter.
• Rinse hair in cold water. It helps with shine and to set the curls.
• Squeeze hair dry so it's still pretty wet but not dripping. I pretty much keep my head upside down the whole time
• Put a small amount of Tigi Catwalk Curls Rock (curl amplifier cream) in my palm, add a little water so it spreads around more easily, and then just kind of scrunch it all over in my hair
• Then (while head is still upside down) I use some cold water to wet my curls some more to get them to the consistency I want. Blot dry any drips. The ends of the curls should be pretty wet.
• Blow dry hair upside down wish a diffuser. Starting at roots and going to the ends. Don't scrunch curls up into the diffuser or mess with them too much with your hands, otherwise they'll look  unnatural. You just want them to form naturally.
• When its mostly all dry, still upside down I give a quick spray of hair spray to the roots to keep volume.
• Then flip over and DONE!!!

Sorry for the yellowish pictures gotta love the bathroom lighting

Sorry I didn't take a before or during picture, I didn't really think about it until after I had finished my hair for today.

HAPPY CURLING!

Friday Night Storm

On Friday nights I usually get excited to have the house to myself because Brent is gone officiating high school football. Last night I had just started the movie Tangled when the power flickered at about 9pm. I knew it was supposed to rain but had no idea what I was in for!

Turns out that the cell of rain had blown into a nasty storm that resulted in 83mph winds at our house. I realized it was bad and and went out running in the wind/rain to find Wrigley. He was down in the barn but I had him come inside with me because I was freaked out. My mom also got a phone call of me freaking out cause I was home alone and had no power and couldn't see much of anything. Finally found a candle to light and a flash light and Wrigley and I hung out on the kitchen floor. I was too scared of our basement in the dark so I opted out of going to the basement last night. I probably should have been in the basement but I survived! Here are a few pictures from around our house. Brent took this on his phone so sorry that the quality isn't that great!

One of our already dead pine trees snapped (notice the top is on the ground to the right of it)

limbs down around our yard and Wrigley checking out whats going on

A closer view of the corn

This limb smacked into the windows on the left. No damage was done to the windows or house but scared the living lights out of both Wrigley and myself!!!

More limbs down

Tonight Brent and I are heading out to Prairie Rose Lake to grill out burgers and do smores with my friend Christa and her family. She was one of the pharmacists I worked with at Martin Health Services. I am excited to see her and her family! Tomorrow Brent and I are heading up to Twin Lakes (near Fort Dodge) to go camping with more of our friends from the Harlan area. Hopefully we'll get some jet skiing in if the weather permits! Those are our plans for Labor Day weekend.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Wrigley

There are alot of times I have a pitty party to myself about not having any kids yet. I think wow, its possible we'd be trying for our 2nd if we hadn't miscarried. However, God has other plans for Brent and I and I need to keep an open mind. But please keep us in your prayers as it is a daily struggle for the both of us to stay positive about it.

Since I work at a Pharmacy I see lots of pregnant women, women who just found out and aren't telling anyone yet but have many questions, and of course I am jealous. I want that feeling of having so many unanswered questions. Someday, whether its a child of our own or we adopt we WILL be parents! In the mean time I have Wrigley. I know I drive my dad and mom and you might as well add my siblings to the list of annoying them about Wrigley but he's all we've got. When he does something funny I want to share it with the world. However, there are only a select few who find it even remotely funny. Some of those include my Grandpa and Grandma Bolsem who spoil their dog WAY more than we do.

However, yesterday Wrigley had quite the situation. Brent and I went for a walk and Wrigley followed us the whole way. On the way home he noticed a creek down a steep embankment. He took it upon himself to go and try to play in the water. However, he couldn't get back up!!! I was freaking out and I could tell Brent was a little nervous (Not freaking out) on how we were going to get him back up to the road. Wrigley disappeared from sight and I heard a YELP...Broke my heart (dad stop rolling your eyes I was scared) Finally Brent slid down the steep embankment and helped Wrigley find a different path to get out. It didn't help that the non-steep parts had a fence where he couldn't get out. I was so happy when they were both back on the road. OK, so that is my annoying Wrigley story.....

But what I was getting at with this post is he is ready to greet me every time I get home from work, go outside to do ANYTHING, and he is always ready to play with his tail wagging. I can't wait to have that feeling of one our kids getting excited to see me after work, but until then I'm so glad we have Wrigley. He makes all those days where there have been so many pregnant women and babies at work totally worth coming home to!

Flooding of I-680

These pictures are of Intersate 680 on the Iowa side. According to the DOT they don't think this portion of the interstate will be open again until sometime in 2013. It is so sad to think this is just the intersate but think of all the homes along the way ruined from the flood this year.

Hard to believe there is an interstate under there!

Infertility

This video explains what Brent and I are dealing with. I came across this video this morning and we can relate to it 100%.
http://www.tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html

Split Personality? Nope just his leg!!

Today I was going to do a post about a day in the life of Wrigley...However, he didn't feel like cooperating with me to take some pictures of him.

While sitting outside with Wrigley today he started scratching his ear which lead into it looking like he had split personalities. Sorry for the non-dog lovers yes this is my dog scratching his ear and licking his leg but look at it in the perspective that it almost looks like another dogs leg is kicking him in the head and then Wrigley is trying to bite the leg. I found it funny, many of you won't but some will! Enjoy!

Summer Time

This summer I've been trying to get a few things checked off our LONG list of things to do to our house. One of them included power washing the deck. While doing this Brent informed me this probably wasn't done since his parents lived in this house and that was over 10 years ago. Oh MY GOODNESS!

Lets just say, I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to power washing. Brent informed me it is a slow process and I was going too fast! He also informed me I need to take my time and do it right or I'd have to do it again! Well, little did I know it was going to take well over 3 hours to finish. BUT...the final project TOTALLY worth.

While power washing I learned a few things. Do not try to clean off the dirt or grime from your legs with the power washer OUCH and also my dog LOVES to be sprayed with it. He tries to eat the water that is being sprayed at him and jumps all over it! Of course by the time I tried to get a video of him attacking the water he had had enough! Maybe next time!

Me working very hard!



before and after pictures of the deck. I had to work in sections and the right is the before! GROSS

 Also, I wanted to leave you with one of our all time favorite side dishes. This is super easy and extremely yummy! I can't remember if I blogged this recipe before or not. Oh well if I have here it is again!

THREE CHEESE MACARONI AND CHEESE

3 cups uncooked macaroni noodles

12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

6 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

6 oz. shredded provolone cheese

1 stick of butter

5 cups milk

In a 9x13 dish layer ½ of the uncooked macaroni, ½ of the cheeses, and pour ½ stick of butter over that layer then repeat. Cover with the 5 cups of milk and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min.

**Many times I do not measure anything except the milk**

**I also mix up my cheeses sometimes I use whatever I have and I don't measure just throw some on to cover up the noodles but I like lots of cheese, some of the cheese I've tried is Italian blends, pizza blends, and Colby jack, but I'm sure any kind of cheese is perfect just as long as you have more than 1**

Finished product!

Enjoy!

My all time favorite food is macaroni and cheese and this is just another comfort food to add to my never ending list! I also came across an amazing recipe for home breaded chicken strips! I'll be sharing that later this week. We just had it last week and I forgot to get a picture! I'll try to get one soon! I'm sure we'll be having them in the near future!

Happy Anniversary

I would like to wish both my parents and Brent's parents Happy Anniversary.  My inlaws are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary today and my parents are celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary. This might only seem strange to me but Brent and I have a lot of similar dates in our lives. Our birthdays are a day apart and our parents share the same anniversary. It is kind of nice when it comes to remembering dates.

With divorce being so common these days, we are lucky to say our parents are still together! My inlaws are high school sweet hearts and my parents met on a blind date and were engaged 6 months later. We strive to have the relationship both our parents have. We have pretty awesome role models when it comes to marriage.



My in-laws Chuck and Coleen at our wedding 2009





My parents at my dads high school reunion 2011



Zac Brown Band

Thursday after Brent and I got off work we headed to Omaha to meet up with our good friends David and Christi. We met up with them at The Old Mattress Factory for supper and drinks before walking over to the Zac Brown Band concert. Omaha's Red Sky Musical Festival was this week. Today is the last day.

It had been so hot all week and of all days Thursday the day of the outdoor concert was the nicest. It was still warm but we had a blast! It was great catching up with David and Christi before the concert we're glad they moved closer to us. They moved to Burlington and have recently moved to West Omaha! Its nice to have friends close enough to go do things with! We'll have to meet up more often though!

Christi and I at dinner before the concert

Such a great couple!

My best friend and husband!!

We had decent seats. I just wish my camera had a better zoom!

Ran into Jordan (I work with her at the Harlan HyVee Pharmacy)

Just a picture of the view from our seats

Where the concert was held. The College World Series are now held at this stadium instead of Rosenblatt

Zac Brown himself!



This pictures was taken by a husker fan. He was not thrilled to do it but was happy to help, he did ask Brent to take his shirt off so he didn't have to stare at the Hawkeye "crap". He actually was a really nice guy!



We had a fun time at the concert. The day before the Zac Brown Band concert Kid Rock was in concert here, and he made an appearance on stage with Zac Brown, and we even had the pleasure of him mooning the audience! They performed a song together, but I can't for the life of me think of what it was called. It was really good. I'm sure Brent remembers but he's outside finishing my mowing!

Kind of a blurry picture but this it is of Kid Rock (Left) and Zac Brown (Right) performing together

Some changes have been made in our house. Goodbye to the sea foam green crown victoria, old rusty green dodge pickup and my G6...Hello to a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a new Dodge Ram pickup! We're both very happy with our new vehicles but I do miss my G6, and Brent informed me last night he misses the Crown Vic (I have no idea why). My inlaws actually took the crown vic to their 2nd home in Colorado to have a car out there. The G6 was bought by a family we know from Harlan for their 18 year old daughter. Acutally she paid for it all her self so she told me she'd take good care of it!

Our new Jeep. This will be nice this winter with 4x4. It even has a DVD player built in!

Brent's new pickup



Tonight Brent has a project he isn't aware of yet. We have blinds to hang in our bedroom and the room that someday hopefully soon will be used as a nursery!

Another fun weekend filled with my nephews!

Last weekend our nephews Peyton and Maddox came to Iowa for the week. Their mom and dad (Derrick and Katie) Came for the weekend but the boys stayed at grandpa and grandma's house! Of course Brent and I tried to spend as much time with them as we could! We hadn't seen them since Christmas! That was way too long to go without seeing them.


We played outside a lot since it was so nice out. The boys loved playing in puddles, riding their bikes or tractors, and playing in the hose! (Especially since I showed Peyton how to turn it on and squirt Grandpa Chuck).

Please ignore the naked pictures of Maddox. He enjoys being in little clothing
and living out in the country why not be naked!

Hard to get them to look in the same direction, guess this will work!

I know he's naked but I just can't help but laugh at the dimple or roll in his butt cheeks!

He loves being outside!

Peyton is almost ready to take the training wheels off his bike. Maybe a few more tries.
We didn't take them off since he was riding on gravel!

Uncle Brent and Uncle Curt got out their "farm" set for Peyton to play with!
Brent and Curt enjoyed remembering all the fun they had playing "farming"

While Peyton and Maddox were in town they went to the Omaha Zoo, the Shelby Co. Fair, Harlan girls Softball game, and Great Grandma Neva's birthday party. But, do you think I brought my camera to any of it. I need to be better about bringing my camera places.

During the week our nephews were here we had another special visitor. My cousin Trey came to stay with us for a couple days. We met him and his family in Adair, IA (kind of the halfway mark from Des Moines to our house). We were excited to have him finally come stay with us.

While Trey was here we did lots of things, he learned to not be afraid of dogs ( just kidding, that wasn't accomplished he was not a fan of Wrigley, but Wrigley sure was a fan of Trey), We went to the Omaha Zoo, and he drove the 4-wheeler, played games, and watched movies and of course made popcorn every night!

Here are a few pictures from the Zoo. I took about 50 pictures and most of them were of the Gorilla house, but I picked some of my favorites!


This guy almost looks fake in this picture!

It was SUPER hot but we had a blast!

This was swimming over our heads in the aquarium

Trey standing in the Aquarium tunnel! It was so neat!

Trey driving the 4-wheeler up our road into our lane way (Yes Brian, Brent is on the back and they are going SUPER slow)

Trey was pretty excited he was able to drive!

Game night! One of the many games we played

Brent and I enjoying game night with Trey!

 I took Trey home on Saturday morning and we met up with his family to go boating at Lake Red Rock, in Pella. Of course I didn't bring my camera on the boat! Oops! We had a lot of fun though! It was super hot and the water felt great!


Eli on the way home from Pella after Boating!

Brent and I are still getting through our super busy month of July. We are heading to Omaha after I get off work tomorrow to go to the Zac Brown Band concert with our friends David and Christi Hirte! I hope everyone is surviving the heat! Hopefully its cooler tomorrow because its an outdoor concert!