First off we need to start by saying, thank you so much to all of our loyal friends and family members who have been with us since the beginning. Blogging was not only a way for people to keep up with what was going on in our lives, but also a way out for us. We needed ways to express ourselves as a couple in our marriage, not just the good but the bad as well. So we took a little time to ourselves. As most of you know, Erik and I endured one of the hardest years of our relationship in 2013. I mean the whole year was just one heartache after another. In March we lost my Grandmother (who was like my mother) to stage 5 cancer, then four weeks later my Mother passed away from a total freak accident, August we lost Erik’s Grandmother, which thankfully we were able to spend time with her in 2012 almost every other day, September I mourned over the five year anniversary of my Father’s suicide, and then October we found out that we had lost our first baby, of which we had been trying to conceive for over a year. It was tough and we knew that our marriage was one that would never fail, why? Mostly because even being through that year, we managed to stay close, never letting the heartaches and disasters tear us apart. Mind you, we did have our moments of weakness with arguing and of course the loss of any child is never ever easy, but despite it all, we pulled through. So this year we focused on happiness {the key word there is HAPPINESS}. We wanted to surround ourselves in nothing but happiness. So it’s safe to say that our vacation away from blogging has been something that we had to do to be happy, and just be us for a little while.
Last we left off, we were busy having fun. Attending expos and making plans for adoption. So I’m sure most of you are wondering what we are doing now, as far as Baby Richards…right? Well E and I decided that adoption wasn’t for us in the end. We filled out our paper work and were on the right track but something stopped us…Although we would have loved to adopt a child, we figured that we wanted to keep giving ourselves a chance before we just ignored the whole idea of conceiving our own baby. So, that left us with no other option than a Fertility Specialist. I had heard great things about the Houston Fertility Institute and decided to give it a chance. I already knew that I wanted a baby of our own, but I just didn’t know how hard that would be… We scheduled our appointment and met with the Specialist. He was great!!! He immediately decided on a plan for us to move forward with an IUI around June or July. He advised me to try one more round with Clomid but that he would also like to add HCG shots and a Trigger shot to the end of Clomid. I figured that would be fine as long as we had a baby in the end. But, per the usual for us, we decided to hold off. It was very nerve racking to think about spending so much money at one time with no real certainty that we would get pregnant. Instead, we took that money and decided that we would take a trip. We always said that before any babies came we wanted to take a least one trip out of the country together. And we did!!! We took an absolutely amazing 5 night Western Caribbean cruise. It was the exact thing we needed for rest and relaxation. So we returned on July 11th.Honestly, we didn’t want to return home. Cozumel was something like a postcard. It did not seem real at all! It was beautiful and I am so thankful that we took this trip.
Getting tan in the beautiful waters of Cozumel!
We just had to make a heart, couldn't resist! 
Can you say relaxing?!
Megan
Hanging out by the mini Mayan ruins with the cruise ship in the background.
Our trip on the Carnival Triumph!
What now? Well, for now we are just riding the waves of life. We have talked about returning to the Fertility Specialist, but as to a date of arrival, we just don’t know. I am hoping that we can return in the late Fall/early Winter and hopefully {fingers crossed} get pregnant without any issues. Of course as the months go by and we arrive to that time, we will definitely be posting frequently. Thankfully, this time we go to the Specialist, is that real time. There is no turning back. It’s been a long time coming waiting for Baby Richards. I mean to think we started trying to conceive February of 2012, and yet here we still remain, is unimaginable! But with a little faith in our Lord, and a little push of assistance from our Specialist, I believe wholeheartedly that we will be able to welcome our Rainbow baby in 2015. And of course, we have to admit that we wholeheartedly appreciate the love, support, and prayers from all of you who have been there since the beginning!
So here’s to hoping that all your dreams and wishes come true!