THE DISAPPEARING ACT {05.29.2015}

I swear, my M.I.A. status over these last few weeks has reason, but let me just start by updating you on what happened with the last cycle. So, as some of you may know, E and I decided to regain our TTC status and pick up right where we left off. We decided we would give this TTC journey one more try before moving on to other things to preoccupy our time. Well, no surprise, I'm not pregnant. Although, it's not all sadness. We decided that we are going to take a cruise and paid the deposit the same day my negative pregnancy test number 100 million showed up. I'm really excited about the cruise but even more excited that we have started a whole new fourteen week workout plan. After having so much success with the last workout plan (twelve weeks at six days a week and clean eating), we figured we would try to lose the remaining twenty pounds we can't stand and hopefully, with luck, lose it and look good for our cruise.

Aside from way too many negative pregnancy tests, cruise deposits and payment plans, and working out/new eating plan, we have also been busy spending time with friends and family. If you know E and I, then you know we are HOMEBODIES! Oh yes, it's that serious! We are the last people you will ever see out and about but recently, we have been trying to connect with friends more and spend time doing fun things with them. Sometimes, when I think about the rest of the year, I remember just how busy it gets and how I look forward to those crazy, fast moving Fall and Winter months.

On another note, Erin Condren just released a tiny hint and preview of the upcoming 2015-2016 planner! I must admit that I am pretty darn excited and, you bet, I'll be one of the first people to place my order on June 9. If you want to see the sneak peek, click here.
Just a short blog today to give you an update!!!

God Bless

OUR LIFE TOGETHER {05.12.2015}

Let's start from the beginning...

It all started in 4th grade at Golbow Elementary in Katy, TX. E and I attended school together until 7th grade and then I moved to a different school district about 30 minutes away in Cypress, TX. We lost touch for about 5 years.

Erik was an offensive lineman in football his senior year.

I was the Varsity Cheer Captain my senior year.

Somehow, by the grace of God, E got my number and we attended our very first date, Sweeney Todd the play at Klein Oak High School. A few months past and he finally asked me to prom. We arrived to prom as friends, but while dancing to Big Green Tractor, E asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes! Prom was May 8, 2010 and it was there we shared our first kiss, which E's mom captured for us.

 

We dated for 8 months and during that time, E moved to Huntsville, TX to attend Sam Houston State University and I stayed in Cypress, TX to attend community college.

On December 23, 2010, E asked me to marry him. Although we laugh at the story every day, it really was a beautiful night at Santa's Wonderland in College Station, TX.

After begin engaged for about month, I finally decided to move in with E. We got our very first apartment together on January 11, 2011. Just one month later, we welcomed sweet baby Chief Crunchy Richards into our life. He was only 6 weeks old when we brought him home! His name is a combination of nicknames given to E and I. My father always called me "crunchy" growing up and E's dad called him "Chief."

A few months passed and we decided that we wanted to bring another little pup into our lives and found Brooks Harlow on Craigslist. She was only 8 months when we got her. Her name is a combination of names and things we love. I have always loved the name Harlow but never really felt it appropriate for a child. E named her Brooks after Garth Brooks.

We moved around a bit from Huntsville, TX (01/2011-07/2011) to College Station, TX (07/2011-07/2012) then down to Cypress, TX (07/2012-09/2013) until we landed back in Katy, TX (09/2013-current) where it all began. While living in College Station, TX we found a photographer we could actually afford (keep in mind we were only 18 and 19 and didn't have a whole lot of money for a fancy photographer).

On May 12, 2012, E and I said our vows and became husband and wife. We were married at Huntsville State Park at 2pm. It was a beautiful day. Not too hot and not too cold, it was perfect! A few months before our wedding, we decided to start trying to have a family. I got off birth control in the hopes that we would be able to get pregnant after our wedding. After a full year of trying to conceive, with no luck, we headed to the Dr's to find out next steps.

While in Cypress, TX we celebrated 1 year of marriage and I started my first round of Clomid, just one month later, in June 2013 at 50mg. After one month, I was adjusted to 100mg for July 2013.

On September 26, 2013, after our first round of 100mg in July, E and I found out we were pregnant after 2 years of trying to conceive. I was about 8 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. On October 3, 2013 we had our first Dr's appointment. It was at that appointment, almost 10 weeks pregnant, that we found out we had lost the baby just the week before. 

We decided to take a break from trying to conceive for 2014 and focused on traveling. We moved to Katy, TX and celebrated our 2nd year of marriage. We traveled to Las Vegas, Florida, and took a cruise to Mexico! We also focused on losing weight.

As 2015 rolled around, we decided to start trying to conceive again. To our surprise, we got pregnant on our first cycle January 2015. I found out at 9DPO with a very faint positive on February 10, 2015. Unfortunately, just a few days later, I miscarried.

But after all the bumps, joys, tears, laughter, and crazy times we've spent together, we have made it through and are stronger than ever. Today, we celebrate 3 years of marriage! I look back and even through the loses of multiple family members, our two babies, moving from city to city trying to build ourselves with jobs, and finding who we are together, I am so proud of us. I look forward to whatever the future holds and know that as long as I am with E, life is complete and I am blessed.

 

Here's to many more years together with you my Husband!

 

 

Happy 3 Year Marriage Anniversary!

SO EXCITING {05.10.2015}

E and I decided to design a few shirts. We would love to be able to do something good with the proceeds, such as donate to a charity or find other ways to make an impact with the proceeds. Check out the tee designs below and be sure to click on the link and grab yours before their gone.

http://teespring.com/faithbeautifullyblessed

http://teespring.com/faithbeautifullyblessed-fcross

http://teespring.com/faithbeautifullyblessed-mcross

 

http://teespring.com/faithbeautifullyblessed-verse

 

 

http://teespring.com/getyourrainbow

 

 

 

http://teespring.com/menspraise

 

 

You can also visit our storefront here: http://teespring.com/stores/faith-beautifully-blessed

Check out our YouTube channel for daily vlogs!

www.youtube.com/faithbeautifullyblessed

We are so excited to share our lives with you and will see you for our 365 Days of Daily Vlogs!!!

Much love and Baby Dust

3 DAYS UNTIL THE END {05.08.2015}

As of today, I have three days until I start my progesterone. Tomorrow, I will start eating pineapple core and drinking my Bump Water! I will be taking Prometrium 200mg for twenty days which at the end of those twenty days I should know if I am pregnant. Basically, that means that starting Monday, May 11th, I will be in my Two Week Wait! I'll admit, I don't believe there are any TTC sisters that like the TWW. It just seems to drag on forever. I do however, like to take the opportunity to rest. You know how God spent six days creating the world and then on the seventh day He rested? Well, I know my TTC journey isn't nearly as large or important as God's creation of the world, but just as He rested after a long week of work, we use the TWW as our resting period. No stressing or worrying. It's in God's hands. We acknowledge the success that we had in sticking to our BDing "schedule" and do not dwell on the things we did not do or should have done differently.

 ~  

*Mini Q&A: Why are you eating Pineapple after ovulation? Pineapples contain an enzyme called Bromelain which is anti-inflammatory and has been known to increase cervical mucous and possibly the chance of implantation in early pregnancy. For directions on consuming pineapple for ovulation, see directions below*

I mentioned that I will be starting my BumpWater to which I'm sure some of you were wondering what in the world that meant. Well, go check out BumpWater! It's not a replacement for prenatal vitamins but instead an enhancer. Packed with tons of benefits and supplements. Not to mention, they are delicious! 12 bottles are just $28.99!!!

While I know that I have not blogged as much about this cycle as I did with my cycle in January, I have still been following the same "schedule"/"routine," so if you are a new TTC Sister and need a little help creating and following a plan that may be successful for you, then check out my TTC JOURNEY: CLOMID YEAR 2 ROUND 1 page. You can see how I tracked my cycle and other things I did to accomplish getting pregnant. For those interested in getting the full and detailed version of all the things we changed that worked for us, be sure to read WHAT WE DID DIFFERENT YEAR 2 ROUND 1 THAT WORKED!!!

Today is also my last OPK testing day and since I didn't do my daily OPK update, check out my progression of OPKs from beginning on CD to end, today, on CD 15. 

Now keep in mind, with the Advanced ClearBlue Digital OPKs, you should never refer to the lines to tell you if you are ovulating. The smiley faces on the ClearBlue will show you what you need to know. I have heard so many women say that they look at the test strips, and in thinking like the other tests, to see if the lines are the same. With ClearBlue its different. The test itself measures both LH surge as well as Estrogen, so when it gives you a blinky smiley face, you better be BDing because you are at High Fertility. When you get the steady smiley face, you definitely want to BD because you are in Peak Fertility. Once you get a Peak Fertility on the ClearBlue Advanced, there is no need to continue testing as it will display the Peak smiley face for 48 hours. After which point your ovulation will have ended. Be sure that you are BDing according to the SMEP: BD day of positive OPK, the next day, then skip one day and BD one more time, to ensure the best possibility of catching that little eggie.

As I mentioned, I am on CD 15. I awoke to a dropped temp but with my FMU I was still only receiving a blinking smiley face (High Fertility) it wasn't until second morning urine around 9:30am that I successfully received my steady face (Peak Fertility). What better day than on our 5 year (dating) anniversary? Yes, we still celebrate the date E asked me to be his girlfriend and we also celebrate our engagement anniversary. Another thing that surprised me about this cycle was that it was on time. Ovulation according to my Clomid calculator pin-pointed this date, my Ovia fertility app said this was my day, and my body sent me signals like cramping, achy boobs, and bloating. Let's just hope this means we will finally get pregnant with our Healthy Rainbow Baby!!!

This will more than likely be one of the last posts about my cycle. Since I will be starting my TWW, there won't be much to blog about as far as my cycle is concerned. I will however, let you know if there are any symptoms from the Progesterone, so for those interested in that, be sure to stick around!

 

By the way...

 

 

Baby Dust, God Bless, and Best Wishes!

 

**Directions for Pineapple Core after Ovulation: 1) Use a knife to remove the pineapple exterior 2) Cut through the middle of the pineapple from top to bottom leaving halves to work with 3) From each half, slice six to eight equally sized wedges and 4) After confirmed ovulation, begin consuming one to two slices of pineapple each day.**

 

 

SPEAK UP {05.07.2015}

I am not normally the type of person to "vent" or complain about things. I usually always try to see the bright side of everything, but recently, there has been something weighing on my mind. For my fellow TTC sisters, you know first hand how frustrating it can be when you know you were made to do something so simple as have sex, and get pregnant, and can't do it on your own! It's not only frustrating, it's degrading. It {infertility} goes against everything we were taught in our younger years. I still remember clear as day all my High School teachers talking and preaching about how easy it is to get pregnant. Well, that's not true for everyone. Not for E and I, or the other 1 out of 8 couples out there.

Back to that thing on my mind...recently I was talking with a friend about my 3 years long TTC journey. And as we were talking, she reminded me how she "briefly" struggled. Now, please don't take this the wrong way. But if you only "struggled" for less than a year to get pregnant, then that wasn't really much of a struggle was it? Sure, you probably had some frustration and heartache in there, but less than 1 year verses the likes of couples such as E and I who have had this battle on-going for 3+ years...So, she reminded me about her "brief" months of TTC and how she was so upset and angry. She talked about how she tried X, Y, and Z things and nothing worked until she finally just "gave up." Then BOOM! She was pregnant!

Well here's the thing...let me just let you in on an extremely short version of my TTC journey with E.

For the first year of TTC we had no idea why we couldn't get pregnant but assumed it was due to no ovulation or PCOS. To our surprise, I had no PCOS but was right on the money with the no ovulation part. The Dr put me on Provera to start my period (since I barely ever had one), then drugged me with Clomid and this continued for 5 rounds. We got pregnant after the second round of 100mg Clomid but lost the baby at 10 weeks. Then, we got pregnant again after the four round of 100mg Clomid but lost that baby at 6 weeks. Now, I am facing Provera, Clomid, Progesterone, countless ultrasounds and blood draws, and yet all my tests keep coming back perfectly fine! Guess you could call it "Unexplained Infertility." Well, you can imagine the frustration when people (not just friends and family) say things like: "just relax, it will happen" "oh don't worry, I struggled for a few months too and it happened pretty fast" ect., ect., ect.

I would never wish infertility on anyone, but sometimes it can be so annoying when people don't realize that it just isn't like that for some people. E and I have tried the "relax it will happen" all of 2014 and guess what? I didn't have but maybe 2 cycles with 0 ovulation and surprise, surprise- I did not get pregnant! Sure 1 year maybe isn't enough for the time period people would like to hear but either way we tried it and nothing happened. We can't just sit around waiting for cycles that never happen, trying to get pregnant on cycles where I don't ovulate because I didn't take medication.

Maybe that's the most frustrating part. E and I really have no option but to use medication. We have both been tested and are absolutely fine. No major problems other than Dr's have no idea why we can't get pregnant on our own or keep the baby. At the end of the day, I just want people around the world to realize that infertility is a battle, a struggle, an on-going, endless circle of aggravation, sadness, and pain. It's not fun. No one wakes up and thinks, "I'd LOVE to be able to struggle through infertility for a few years, waste a whole lot of money, and get absolutely nothing out of it but maybe a few miscarriages and heartaches." Most of us TTC ladies wake up thinking, "My only dream and prayer is to be able to carry one, healthy baby to full term." Crazy huh? Half of the TTC community would celebrate every single day of the rest of our lives if we could just get one little baby and yet, there are people out there with two or more just waiting to find ways to get rid of them or complain about how hard it is and how "you should just wait" or "come babysit then you wont want children."

I guess this venting session was really just a way for me to get out all my thoughts. Maybe people need to see the heartache because even though I may seem happy all the time, I can promise you that my heartbreaks just the same as everyone else's. And that goes for the TTC community as a whole. Even the few that get pregnant in less than a year, I know their hearts break too from the sight of those negative pregnancy tests, bad news Dr's appointments, and degrading comments from passers standing by.

Let me just leave on at least a few good notes. 1) I have faith. I have faith that the Lord, my Savior, my God will keep His word for me to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. 2) I have learned how to be grateful in the good times, and faithful in the bad times. 3) No matter what, keep going! I always remind myself that a dream or goal is worth the wait and the hard work. 4) Sometimes things don't go your way. Too many times TTC sisters turn their backs from God because they can't understand why we aren't getting what we want, when the truth is, God isn't giving us what we want because He has already planned what we need to fulfill our lives. And Lastly, 5) always find hope and grace in the journey. There are so many negative things to be said and thought about infertility, but bottom line is, the journey makes that healthy miracle baby all worth it. And, if you're lucky, will blossom a whole new relationship with your significant other.

God Bless, Baby Dust, and Well Wishes to my TTC Sisters

FIRST VLOG OF 2015 {05.04.2015}

Our first vlog is up! We are so excited to share with you our adventure at Schlitterbahn- New Braunfels. It was such a fun Sunday and even though we had to drive two hours to get there, it was well worth it. This was an awesome way to celebrate our upcoming three year wedding anniversary.

Watch our first vlog below!

 

Thanks for spending the day with us at Schlitterbahn!

VLOG INTRO {05.03.2015}

So excited that the Vlog intro is complete and is uploaded to our channel!!!

Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA4zmzElgqw

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for daily vlogs.

God Bless

HOPE & FORGIVENESS | BIBLE STUDY PLAN {05.02.2015}

This week will actually be divided into two sections. The first study will be a 3-day study on Hope. Then, there will be a 4-day study on Forgiveness. Take a look at the plan below and don't forget to post a photo of how you bible study to Instagram using #FBBBible. 

Day 1 | Sunday, May 3 ~ Psalms 71:14 {Hope}

Day 2 | Monday, May 4 ~ Jeremiah 29:11 {Hope}

Day 3 | Tuesday, May 5 ~ Hebrews 6:11 {Hope}

Day 4 | Wednesday, May 6 ~ Proverbs 18:18{Forgiveness}

Day 5 | Thursday, May 7 ~ Matthew 6:14-15{Forgiveness}

Day 6 | Friday, May 8 ~ Luke 17:3-4{Forgiveness}

Day 7 | Saturday, May 9 ~ Hebrews 12:15 {Forgiveness}

 

See last week's bible study here:

 

http://faithbeautifullyblessed.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-is-love-gods-view-bible-study-plan.html

 

God Bless

 



ANNIVERSARY GIFTS & EXCITEMENT {05.01.2015}

We have 11 days until our anniversary! Hard to believe. It definitely does not feel like it has been 3 years. I still find myself falling in love with Erik every single day. I still recall what it was like to start dating him and how we just knew, almost instantly, that we were determined to make this last. One thing that I always promised E was that no matter where our TTC journey or life took us, I wanted to make every day a good one. That's not to say that we don't have the bad/hard days, but I try to find fun things for us to do in our free time. We work so hard for the things we have and E does so much to remain calm and cool during the TTC months. It's so easy to get flustered or frustrated, angry, miserable, and disappointed during the TTC journey and we've had our fair share of those days which made me realize, even more, the importance of having fun with your spouse/significant other.

With that, E and I have been discussing "gifts" for our anniversary. We never get each other gifts for anniversaries and are usually content with just dinner and a movie. But, this year marks 3 years and since 3 is a lucky number for E and I (or so we hope), we decided to just splurge a little.

I was really excited about E's gift...a GoPro!!! He had been asking and talking about GoPros for a while but I just didn't see the need until we started talking about trips we've taken and how many videos were lost from those trips. We even mentioned the trips we plan to take and how we would love to have that footage for years to come. We also talked about doing daily Vlogs on YouTube because we regret not Vlogging our TTC journey or just life in general. There's a long list of reasons, I'm sure, why E wanted a GoPro, which is why I got him one. He was really surprised when I told him I bought one and we were equally as excited when it arrived at our front door. Here it is, mounted and ready for vlogging!

E got me two really amazing things, first thing he got me is a KitchenAid Mixer attachment to make our own sausage. I have been wanting to get this attachment for a while and I'm really excited to use it. Second thing E got me is bigger and more sentimental, to us a least. He got me tickets to the Sweeney Todd play!!! I am sooo excited because our very first date was to Sweeny Todd, our senior year when we weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend yet, we were just "old friends catching up." Of course it was the High School version but still it was fun and that date led to a prom-posal and we know how the rest goes. I must admit that I couldn't believe the odds that of all the years, this would be the year (lucky # 3) that the Wortham Theater Center in Houston would be putting on one of my most favorite plays/movie.

Aside from the gifts and the play, we will also be enjoying a really fun, day-time activity. We are going to a 5-tier ropes course and Zip-Line! I have never ever been zip-lining so this will definitely be interesting. Either way, I think this will be a really fun and eventful anniversary! Oh, and of course E is already talking about bringing the GoPro for the ZipLine footage.