So the Journey begins...

Wednesday was our first appointment at the Fertility Specialist and to say that it was overwhelming would be an understatement! I have been on a roller coaster of emotions, everything from being terrified to excited to move forward.

Over the next couple of weeks we will have some additional testing. Our prayer is that I will not need any surgery to correct problems. Provided all of our testing comes back with good reports, they hope to be able to do IUI. Our other prayer is that God will make a way for us to make this option financially possible. It is very expensive. So please continue to keep us in your prayers for these two concerns.

For those of you that are wondering, yes, I did have my baby dust book with me. Also, I haven't forgotten I am just waiting for a few more pages before I post it!

Bo.n Jo.vi...Need I Say More!

A little over a week ago Heath called me at home and asked "Can you be off next Thursday night? I think I can get us tickets to B.on Jo.vi." Uhhh....for B.on Jo.vi, I will find a way to be off. Let me just say it was a looong week and we were not sure we were going until the day before. Needless to say we got the tickets.

Thursday night we headed out to Atlanta for the concert. We were a little unsure about our tickets at first because the were "rear stage" seats. We didn't really care where they were as long as we could go. When we got there we were in fact behind the stage but, the seats were fantastic, we were almost on top of the stage and to top it off the stage was round so they played all the way around and the video screen moved all around. So it turns out that "rear stage" seats are pretty darn good.

I think it goes with out saying that the concert was fabulous and he sang all of our favorites and they played for more than two and a half hours. We had an amazing time. We finally got back home around 2 AM, thank goodness I was off Friday. I will leave you with some of our photos of our fantastic evening....

Our Tickets

Waiting for the show to start

Thank you for that lovely guitar solo, Mr. Sambora!

Shot through the heart and your to blame....

WARNING: This is not Rockband and this is not your living room...this is Wanted: Dead or Alive, Live in Concert...the way it was meant to be!

It My Life!

There HE is....

Livin' on a Prayer Finale!

Tico Torres, Richie Sambora, Jon B.on J.ovi and David Bryan!

Have a Nice Day!

A Hoppin' Good Time in Texas!

This Easter I decided to spend in Texas for several reasons:

1 - It has been almost 9 years since I have celebrated an Easter with my family

2. - It just so happened to be first Monday at Canton

and

3 - has a little something to do with this little lady...

I figured it was about time for Presley to meet me. I mean we wouldn't want to withhold what will undoubtedly be her favorite aunt forever! Right!

The Thursday night before Easter I hopped a plane to Texas after work. The wind nearly blew my plane off the runway as we landed but, I did make it in safe...but a little scared!

On Friday, we spent most of the day playing beauty shop. Brooke cut and colored my hair and then all the girls went for pedi's. We did also make a short trip out to see Nana and later that evening we met up with Brandon in Rockwall for dinner at Gloria's. It was so yummy! Having Mexican at least once while I am in Texas is always on my to do list.

Saturday, we all got up early and headed out to Canton. We even managed to talk Brandon into going...although, I am not to sure how excited he was about it. The boys eventually drifted off to look at their own things but the girls spent time shopping and finding wonderful treasures. Even Presley enjoyed it but really I think it was because she got more treasures than any of the rest of us! Dad said Presley was officially "Cantonized"

After a full day at Canton we headed back home. Once we were there and recharged with dinner there were still some errands to be run for the following day. Mom and Dad headed out to the grocery store and Brandon, Ashlie and Brooke headed out to the liquor store. That left me and Presley at home together. Which was fine except that Grammie jinxed us! It went a little something like this....

Mom: Ok, do you mind if we run to the store

Britt: No, thats fine...

Mom: Will you be ok here alone with her?

Britt: ummm, yeah! I'm not stupid, I can take care of a baby...

Mom: What if she has a meltdown?

Britt: We'll be fine, I've had lots of meltdowns....I'll talk her through it!

Mom: Ok, we'll be right back...

fast foward 10 minutes....we have a meltdown....Thanks Grammie!

Thank goodness, Brandon and Ashlie came back shortly after that because I felt terrible because I couldn't figure out how to help her calm down (but, let me say for the record that she has had meltdowns with both Ashlie and Mom so, it wasn't just me) It wasn't long after being back with her mama that she calmed down. When Grammie got back we told what she did! Here she is post-meltdown, she looks so tired from her busy day!

On Sunday we went to church but not with out a few pictures...

In her Basket

Aunt B with her Sweet P

Grammie with her Girls

One of our Canton finds.... I call them Grammie Panties!

After Church, we had a yummy lunch cooked by dad with a little egg hunting and silly string to follow. Later that afternoon we went back to see Nana again, this time with the whole family. They had a beautiful therapy dog visiting and handing out chocolate eggs.

All in all it was a fantastic Easter Sunday!On Monday it was just mom and I, we went out for one last visit to Nana before I went home. We stayed with her for awhile while she finished her therapy. After that we went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes, which I love! Finally, did a little shopping before I had to head back to the airport.

I had a great time in Texas and I loved getting to finally meet Presley. The really good news is before I left Texas Ashlie and Mom decided to bring Presley out for a visit in May! They will be here near the end of May and I can't wait to see them again!

March Madness

No, this is not a post about basketball...just our March Highlights!

On March 8th - 12th Emily and Adam came to spend some time with us while they were on Spring Break. I, however, had to spend most of the time working but I did manage to spend a little time with them. We played the Wii, cooked yummy food and of course played boardgames.

The Thursday night before they left we did actually manage to get all of us together for dinner. This is very rare that we can all manage a night off together. We all went to eat at Shogun. Our family is getting so large that we barely all fit at one table. The girls enjoyed watching them cook but, Ashlyn was not too crazy about the fire! Here are some pics from the night.

One of our favorite things about March is the Cherry Blossom Festival. It is so much fun to see the entire town go pink. We try to go to at least on event each year. This year we decided to go to see the Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band. Linda and Howard joined us and we even let Odie come and practice being around other people. Odie was a little scared but he did really well. We had fun eating all the yummy food and listening to the band. We also saw the Sea Lion Show and Heath bought me a Cherry Blossom tree which we planted in the front yard.

Lacey the Pink Poodle is well known around the Cherry Blossom Festival and she happened to be out the night we were there. I think she and Odie might have had a love connection!
I also wanted to give an update on the Baby Dust book, all the pages have been mailed out to those who have emailed me. I still have a few pages left, if you are interested please see the post below for information. I also would like to say Thank you to all those who offered to make pages, your support has been amazing. The pages have already started rolling in and they are incredible! Once I have them all back I do plan to post pictures of my book, so look for it sometime in late April. Happy Spring Everyone!

A shot of reality with a baby dust chaser!

So, typically when you order a "strong" shot you may have a chaser with it to help it go down a little more smoothly. So, first up, a shot of reality....

I first want to say Thank you to all those who have spent many months praying for me, my 2...4 and other numbers or odd request I have asked you to pray for. I have been so blessed to have so many people willing to pray for me and for things that they may not understand. For that I am truly thankful.

The hard fact is that it is now March (I know you all are stunned by this revelation!) and I am still standing in the "waiting for a baby" line. I know many months ago I shared some things that God had put on my heart, I felt and still feel very strongly about "my 2", even though I don't know what it means. This is something I have struggled with tremendously. Why would God put something on my heart that I don't understand. I have also struggled with the fact that it may cause someone else's faith to waiver because of something I chose to share. I know many of you believed February was my month just as strongly as I did. This, however, I know is true, what was put on my heart was real and honest and I would post it again and ask you all to pray for it again in a heartbeat. It was meant to be shared.

I may never know or understand what it all means. I do know, that one day I hope to sit at God's feet and let him fill in the blanks on my life. Why he has chosen the path for me that he did and maybe we will sit back and laugh at how missed those few "dots" that connected everything together. There is a purpose for everything and just because things didn't turn out the way I thought it would, or hoped it would. I refuse to let it shake my faith. Just as there is good in this universe, there is also evil that is just as hard at work trying to upset God's work. God would never put a desire on my heart, so strongly, if he did not intend to fulfill that desire. I truly with all my heart believe this!

Please note, while this post may seem like I am calm about all this, I can assure you this is being written after much prayer. I have had (and still have at times) my moments of overwhelming sadness. Moments where I have cried countless tears and begged for relief from this pain in my heart. It has taken sometime for me to accept this and make the choice to move forward, even though I wanted to throw up my hands and quit. My pain is still there, the sadness is still there and God is still there too! This is the journey that was set out for me and I have to go straight through it and that doesn't mean it will be easy or that I will like it.

I have had to do, the one thing, I dreaded the most. We will now be seeking the help of a fertility specialist. After much thought and consideration, I have decided to share this journey with you all. I do not know how much of this I will choose to share as I am generally a more discreet person. I feel like it is important to share this journey because that will make the reward even sweeter!

A dear friend of mine gave me a wonderful book called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. It is an amazing book if you are struggling with the path God has chosen for you. One of my favorite parts in the book is chapter 28 where the author says "I am a tree in a story about a forest and it is arrogant of me to believe any differently. The story of the forest is better than the story of tree." This very statement is what helped me to keep moving forward and to share my journey with all of you because, I don't know what part I am to play in each of your lives or what part you all will play in mine.

So, that was my shot of reality. I am not going to lie, it was tough to swallow. Now for the easy part...the chaser.

What is Baby Dust, you ask?!? Simply put, they are well wishes and good luck to those trying to conceive. So that, is what I would like you all to be a part of. When I knew I was going to have to start seeing a fertility specialist I knew it would include alot of appointments and waiting. Those idle moments of waiting are almost always filled up by worrying, which leads to panic, which leads to crying.....you get the picture here, right!?!. Obviously I can't have you all there to help keep me calm, so it gave me an idea.

My idea is, a Baby Dust book that I can carry with me to appointments and *fingers crossed* someday into the delivery room. I got this idea from a friend of mine who had something similar made for her during a very difficult time. The book will be made by all of you.. I can hear you all now, and there is no need to panic (I do enough of that to go around...twice!) When it is complete it will look something like this. In the "art world" these little gems are called "chunky books" and I think they are fabulous!

So, here is where all of you come in. I am asking those of you who are interested to make one page (front and back) for me to add to this book. Your words of encouragement will help keep me sane during this difficult process, appointments ect. You do not have to be an artist to do one! If you have ever scrap booked then you can do this. I will send you the "page" which is a 4x6" tag shaped chipboard which you can decorate in anyway you wish. My only requirement is that the front side include an encouraging scripture or uplifting quote. The back side you must have your name on it at the minimum but, I would love a little note from you. Here are some examples. Please note these example are done by artist so please don't be intimidated. I simply posted them so you can see what "chunky pages" look like and to help give you some ideas. I promise I will love anything you do!

If you are interested (or know anyone who might be) please email me at heathandbrittani@aol.com and put the word Baby Dust in the subject line so I don't overlook it. I will mail you a page and a tip sheet on how to do your page. When you are finished you will mail it back to me and I will add it to the book. Your encouraging words will be an important part of my journey, I assure you. I could look at art and scrapbooks for hours. My hope is to have at least 12 pages by my first appointment on April 21st. So don't be shy! If I can do the fertility thing, you can do a page!!! :)

Once my beautiful book is bound I promise to post pictures of it.

Update: I currently have... officially lost count, but I will keep sending them as long as people ask for them!

Our Valentines!

This Valentines day Heath had to work ALL DAY, ALL WEEKEND! So I was alone but, we did get to take a fun little trip on Monday to St. Augustine, FL.

We drove down on Monday morning it took about 4.5 hours to get there. When we did get there though, the weather was amazing! Windows open and sunroof open. After some lunch we stopped at the Fountain of Youth, it was really neat! This picture is a little recreation of Ponce de Leon finding the Fountain of Youth. The water tables are so low now that it is really more like a well that they draw water up from. I know what you are wondering and YES we did have a drink from the Fountain of Youth. All I can say is it better work because it tasted terrible! As you may note there are not many pictures of this event because, my camera was acting up yet again.

After the Fountain of Youth, we drove around a bit, checking everything out. We eventually made it out to our hotel just as a huge rain cloud came up. Not to worry, our hotel was equipped with a wonderful indoor hot tub in beautiful glass atrium. Later that night, we headed out in no particular directions to look for a place to eat. We finally found a yummy place called "Harry's" it was New Orleans cuisine in huge, old, plantation looking house. We had a wonderful dinner and for dessert I had...wait for it....a creme brulee martini. How great does that sound?!? Well, let me just tell you it was heaven. Again, no pictures...Stupid Camera.

Tuesday morning we got up and headed out fairly quickly, as we had a loong list of things we wanted to see and do. I was slightly worried at first because about 90% of what we had planned to do was outside and a cold front had moved in the night before and it was freezing!

First stop, The Bunnery, for ham and cheese croissants and hot chocolate. Second stop on our list was Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, we did not however go through the museum because what we were looking for was in the lobby, The Fertility Statues. You can read the article but word is over 2000 pregnancies have been credited to women touching them, we figured it couldn't hurt. I mean it is February after all and there are two of them and two of us...that makes four, right?!?

OK, I realize I may be stretching this a bit but, we were there and figured anything is worth a try at this point...not to mention it was free! Here I am with one of them. It said we were supposed to touch them. I happen to be leaning on this baby's head...I hope the fertility gods don't hold that against me! For all my friends who aren't having any luck in the baby department, these statues tour, here is their schedule. They may be coming to a Ripley's near you!

After our fun at Ripley's we spotted a cupcake shop, which was a must stop! We got yummy cupcakes in the flavors of Tiramasu and Chocolate Covered Strawberry. With cupcakes in hand we were off to the historic downtown area. It was so beautiful it reminded me of Savannah with a little Santa Monica thrown in. We spent several hours walking around. St. Augustine is the oldest city in then nation, which means all the "oldest" things are there, like the oldest jail, and the oldest hotel and the oldest wooden school house (see pic) All these things are in the downtown area, in addition to lots of great shopping, wineries, chocolate shops, restaurants. We spent alot of time getting all the "free samples" we could. I also had to make a stop at the Bath Junkie and mix up some fun products! In case you are wondering, Heather and Egyptian Musk mixed together is my new favorite scent.

After walking around downtown, one thing Heath really wanted to do was visit Castillo de San Marcos, it was a fort that was built in 1600's in order to protect St. Augustine from England. I have to say it was very interesting to see something that was built nearly 400 years ago.

After visiting the fort and little more shopping we had a late lunch at a Taco Bar. It was so good I now want to put lime on every taco I make. We made one last stop at a winery in town but I was cold and tired and ready to go home, so we headed back.

St. Augustine was so beautiful and so much fun. We hope to go back again maybe, when it is warmer so we can go to the beach. Cold or not we had a great time! It was such a fun Valentine treat and...

To my sweet Heath! Thank you so much for being my Valentine for the past eight years! I Love you!

All that Glitters is snow!

I moved to Georgia almost eight years ago, and that was the last time it snowed here...well like this anyway!

I realize most of you have gotten way more snow from this storm than we did but, we were pretty excited about our 4" here! It started snowing around 2:00 on Friday afternoon. When I left work at 5:00 it was beautiful. It did, however, take me nearly an hour to get home. By the time I got off the interstate I almost couldn't see. It took Heath over an hour to get home as well.

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland. When I first opened the door and Jackson looked out he went crazy barking. He was so upset by it but, once we went outside I had to drag him back in. Both Odie and Jackson LOVED the snow. They ran and played forever in it. Odie finally figured out he could eat the snow and that made for even more entertainment for them. They were running around biting at the snow. Odie also decided he liked having snowballs thrown at him. He would wait for you to throw one, then run like crazy and circle back around for you to do it again.

The sun is out and super bright, so the snow is melting fast. By the time Heath headed out to work at 12:00 it was already starting to disappear. I can't help but to keeping looking out the window the beauty of it is amazing to me. So, thank you God for snow! What a fun way to start a vacation!!!