The Day is Here!

The day is finally here!  Saturday (tomorrow) I will have the embryo transfer.  After five weeks of meds, they will be implanting two embryos.  Our egg donor had her eggs retrieved on Monday, and we found out on Tuesday that we had 18 healthy embryos fertilized.  I was told the procedure will only take 15 minutes and that I'll need to be off my feet for the rest of the day.  I'll go in nine days later to find out if I'm pregnant.  It's hard to believe that we started this process at the beginning of November, and tomorrow is the BIG day!

We have had a great experience so far.  The doctors and nurses are wonderful!  They know are story and have been so supportive!!  Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers!

Two Years

Today marks year two that Cade has been gone.  Time has flown by and it feels like he has been gone for so long (I know I say that ALL of the time, but it is so true).  He would be six years old, in the first grade, playing soccer, and annoying his sister.  Nothing changes, we miss him terribly and would give anything to touch, see, and hear him!  When we think about him and look at pictures we always smile.  He was such a sweet boy with a big heart.

We celebrate his life today and celebrate knowing where he is!  How wonderful to know that he is in the most amazing place where everything is perfect!  We love you so much Caderader...right up to the moon and back!!

Buzz Lightyear--we definitely got our money's worth out of this costume!  I remember him wearing it at four with the bottom half way to his knees and the back ripped to make it fit!!

Our precious boy!  Cade and I had a date night at Kemah while dad was away!  Precious!!

Here We Go

Soooo...it's finally time for us to officially get started with the invetro process. The past couple of months Darrell and I had to choose our egg donor and sperm donor. What a process that was!!

As of Friday, March 22nd, our egg donor started her cycle...so that meant it was time for us to get our "calendar" set up. Today (Monday, April 1st) I started on the meds to move us forward. It looks like we will have possible transfer dates of May 2-4 (all of this depends on when they retrieve the eggs from our donor).

I can't explain how excited Darrell and I are about starting this!! We are SO ready to have noise in our house again. We LOVE children and are looking forward to this next chapter in our lives! We pray that everything goes smoothly and that at the end of all this we will have a beautiful child, or two, to share our life with!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!

A Year Already

It's hard to believe that a year has already passed since our precious little girl went to be with our Lord.  Time is a funny thing, the year has gone by quickly, but it seems like she has been gone forever.  This past week has been an emotional one.  I miss Addi more than I can explain.  I look at pictures and watch videos and take in those moments as if they happened yesterday!  I miss waking her up in the morning and her telling me "Bow, shoes, teeth!"  I miss her spilling her goldfish and saying, "Uh oh, uh mess!"  I miss her prancing around EVERYWHERE with Mr. G.  I miss her coming around the corner with every single headband hanging from her arm.  I miss rocking in the chair in the living room with her.  I miss her sleeping with Darrell on that same chair when she didn't feel good.  So many things I miss...this list goes on forever.  What a beautiful, strong little girl we had!  We miss her every day, and we are so glad that God gave her to us...even if it was for such a short amount of time! 

Check Up Doctor Appointment

Watching a movie with Mr. G

Playing on the dishwasher

Hanging out at Ashley's

Being silly

Loves to have stuff hanging from her arms

Playing with her baby

Sweet Girl!

If I'm honest, this week was actually more difficult than I thought it would be.  Darrell and I just spent our first year without either of our children, and what an adjustment that has been.  It is quiet in our house and all routine and structure that once existed is no longer there.  It's funny how when you have kids, it's all about a routine.  Now if we eat at 9:00, we eat at 9:00...no big deal (that would have never happened with the kids here)!  I also find myself looking at the pictures on our walls and dealing with that they are no longer being changed out with new ones.  With all of that said, Darrell and I are happy and continue to LOVE each other, probably even more than we ever have!  Emotional moments come and go and I'm pretty certain they always will...we love our kids and miss them dearly.  We have a strong faith and know that God provides us with the strength we need and we know that He has plans for us!  We are surrounded by wonderful people who continue to pray for us and love us and care for us! 

Saudi Heart Walk

A couple of months ago two of our dear friends, Lindsey and Stephanie, let us know that they wanted to do something for us to honor Cade and Addi.  The two of them, with their husbands (Brooks and Micah), organized a walk on their compound.  They sold shirts and pizza and accepted donations that would go towards our invetro procedure.  The event, we were told, was an awesome experience!  They walked in the evening on the beach and finished up right at sunset (what an amazing view)!  The four of them spent some time at the beach when both Cade and Addi passed away just remembering them, releasing balloons, and just praying for us.  How appropriate that the walk would be held at the same location.

Stephanie and Lindsey registering people

Our sweet friends-Micah, Stephanie, Lindsey, & Brooks

The Perry Family

The Sperling Family

Gavin-One of Cade's buddies

Darrell and I are blessed to have them in our lives and the support from everyone in Saudi has truly touched our hearts!  Thank you so much to everyone for continually praying for us and supporting us from so far away!!

Keep the Beat Heart Walk

We did it!  We finished our first heart walk and what a day it was!!  Thank you SO much to everyone who donated and thank you to everyone who came out to walk with us!  Darrell and I were touched by all of the support that we received for our first annual walk!!  We had so much fun and it was so awesome seeing everyone in their Monster Trucks and Tutus shirts, they were everywhere.  The It's My Heart Foundation was overwhelmed by the number of people on our team and the amount of money we raised.  The photography people had trouble getting ALL of us into one picture.  We raised over $13,418!!  Our team received a personalized banner with our logo and Cade and Addi's name on it.  It was really nice!



Me & Darrell with our award for raising the most money



Our amazing family (minus Jimbo-we missed you)

Giving us the banner

Close up of the banner

It was a bitter sweet day.  It was so amazing to be surrounded by SO many people who were celebrating the life of their child, some who are still here and others who have gone to Heaven.  I think that is what I loved most, that everyone there was walking for a common purpose....they were walking for someone they love!  They were walking for a child who touched their lives in so many ways.

Me with my brother and sister (LOVE this picture)

Me with two of Cade's best friends (LOVE them!)

Me with some of my former students (+ one future student)

Me and my crazy dad!

All of the teachers from my school and their kiddos!  There were also many teachers from Mossman--I diddn't have a picture of them (love y'all too)!

Walkers--Look at all of those "85" shirts

I know I've said this a bazillion times, but we are truly grateful for all of you who have prayed for us and shown us so much love and support!  Darrell and I got in the car after the walk and were just in awe of the number of people who took time out of a Saturday to come and walk in honor of Cade and Addi and to support us!!  It touched our hearts more than you'll ever know.  Thank you, thank you!

Our whole team!  Pretty amazing!!

Heart Walk is Almost Here

Our first annual Keep the Beat heart walk is almost here and we are SOOO excited!  I can't explain how much it means to both of us that so many people have signed up to walk with us and also donated to the It's My Heart Foundation.  The love and thoughtfulness that so many have shown us is unbelievable.  It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it!!  We surpassed our goal of $10,000 and in doing so we will be in a VIP tent the day of the walk.  They are making a banner for us that also includes our Monster Trucks and Tutus logo.  Awesome!!  Darrell and I are looking forward to seeing so many family and friends and for us to be wearing our shirts together!  This walk is for are two precious kiddos, and a few other heart friends that we have met along the way!  See you there (pictures from the walk to follow)

Just a reminder:

Registration starts at 8:30

Opening Ceremony at 9:30 

Walk starts at 10:00

Caderader--Date night with Mom

Addi-with Daddy at the Hospital for a checkup

Cade saying, "Can you see her getting into my cars?!?!"