Our Miracle

On November 10th, our lives changed forever because the precious gift that we had been waiting for made his arrival. Because my angel is sleeping, I wanted to share our journey with you.

In July 2013 we started infertility treatments after 11 months of trying to get pregnant on our own. Dr. Harper ran several blood tests and I was diagnosed with having an ovulatory dysfunction. We tried 3 different pills to get me to the point of ovulation and it took 6 weeks. Crazy huh? After that first cycle and no pregnancy, Dr. Harper wanted me to start injections. I remember being terrified walking into Huntsville Hospital to purchase the vials and not knowing how much we were going to pay. As Chris and I were walking out I remember looking at him and crying. We were walking out of the hospital with $1600 worth of medicine that would only last a month. The plus? We only paid $160. That night I cried again. I was breaking down because I was scared of giving myself a shot in the tummy. My patients won't think twice when I have to give them shots but I break down (what was going through my head.)

The shots continued and still no pregnancy. In November, I went back to HH again. Not to purchase medication but for an HSG (they inject dye into your cervix and it spills out of the fallopian tubes. If there is a blockage it opens it and usually you get pregnant quicker.) We ended up having the egg and sperm meet, but they didn't implant. Most women have this happen and they don't know but because of the fertility monitoring we knew. It killed me and satan attacked harder. Chris kept reminding me of the promises God had given us. In December we tried the first iui (intrauterine insemination.) Basically how it works is I continue the shots until by blood work and ultrasound I'm favorable for ovulation. Then I do another shot to trigger ovulation and we perform the procedure ($300.) You then wait 2 weeks and take a test. It's nerve-wracking. December and January resulted in negative tests. February was our last scheduled iui. If we weren't pregnant, we were going to meet with Dr. Harper and talk about more advanced measures. Chris was leaving for San Francisco for a week at the end of that month too.

I begged Chris to let us stop. I couldn't take it anymore. No more shots or disappontment. We even started looking through adoption agencies to decide where we wanted to begin. I'm so thankful that my husband is the incredible leader of our house that he is. He wouldn't let us stop. He never gave up hope. The iui was scheduled for the 26th of February.  My 24th birthday was the 23rd. Do you know what happened? I got pregnant before the iui.

My lab work was soaring each time it was taken. We were told to expect multiples at 4 1/2 weeks pregnant. At 6 weeks, we had our first ultrasound and at 7 weeks we heard Isaiah's heartbeat for the first time. All I could do each time was cry. My promise was being fulfilled.

Now we have a perfect 3 week old little boy whom we love dearly. He is already so strong and determined. We can't wait to see what God does in his precious life.

Infertility is not the path I would have chosen but now it's one I'm very thankful for. It strengthened my relationship with God and our marriage. It taught me to have more grace with those that didn't understand and said something I took personally. I learned that I wasn't a failure. God doesn't make those. I'm the daughter of the king.

Hear Me Roar

Have you heard Katy Perry's song "Roar?" If not, I want you to listen to it. And I mean, really listen to it.

Katy Perry-Roar

My sweet Nanny always gives the best gifts. What could be better than an Amazon gift card, right? I had no idea what I wanted this year, but there were 3 KP songs that I just loved. My CD came in Thursday afternoon. I couldn't wait for my ride to work Friday morning to be able to listen to it. Little did I know what would happen in less than 12 hours. I know that some of you know that Chris and I are going to a reproductive endocrinologist because of issues I have with getting pregnant. I was supposed to take a test this coming Monday, but needless to say, that is no longer necessary. As I walked to the garage yesterday for work,my walk was not the happy one I thought it was going to be. Instead it was filled with me fighting tears and praying to God to give me strength to get me through the day and still be a great nurse to my patients.

The first song on the CD just happens to be "Roar." This is where God stepped in. Thank you, Father, for reminding me how beautiful Your promises are! With every storm you face, satan tries to come in and lie to you, and he knows exactly what to say to punch you in the stomach, make you hide away from the world, steal your joy, take your hope, but it is ALL A LIE!

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready 'cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now
[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

I am finished being silent. Satan is going to hear me roar. My God loves me so much, and He knows how much of a camel I am that He showed me something. I haven't share this with many people, but I'm going to.

Chris and I met with Dr. Harper June 27th for our consultation. At this point, I was lifting a little weight (more body weight stuff than anything) and I was running really well again. I was told that I was no longer able to do that anymore. Basically all I could do was walk and swim. Test #1 from God, and I've made it. So, to get to my point...go ahead and get your tissues...A beautiful morning in July, I was walking the neighborhood and something incredible happened. God gave me my first ever vision. I was looking through my eyes and I was immediately on 5th floor at Decatur General surrounded by my old Women and Children co-workers. I didn't see a lot of faces, but I did see one- Chris N, our LPN, who had told me later that she had a dream about me that I'll share later. Chris N came up and I saw her touch my pregnant belly. After that I just saw hands keep coming up and touching my abdomen and I could feel love and joy. When the vision ended and I was looking back at the house at the end of the road, I was crying and in shock. I called my precious husband and immediately explained everything and asked how I knew the difference between a vision and me just wanting something so badly that I made myself see it. It was backed up in the Word.

Weeks after this dream, Chris N came to work and told me that she had had a dream about me. She was holding my firstborn, a daughter. Now it gets better, 2 weeks ago she came to me with another dream about me- boy/girl twins. So for all that follow me on Pinterest and saw all of those pins, this is why.

I don't blame God for this and I'm not mad at Him. That doesn't mean that sometimes I don't stomp my foot because I don't understand, because I do, but I don't think that I would have all of this happen if He wasn't trying to comfort me and show me His love and promise for me. I cannot wait to share with you all that we're parents, and I know deep down that it's coming. Not by adopting or fostering, but my having a child(ren) grow inside me, and I can't tell you how excited I am for my new home (Labor and Delivery) to be there with Chris and me the day for them to come into the world.

Whatever you're facing, I know that God has GREAT, incredible, wonderful, tremendous plans for you. He turns the most awful things into something beautiful. The storms that we face make us stronger each and every day. They help us to deepen our roots into His word and truth. I love you all very much, and I can't wait to hear you ROAR!

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Hey blog readers!! Can you believe that October is almost over?? I feel like yesterday was New Year's. October has been a great month. The weather was perfect. I am LOVING being in Labor and Delivery/C-Section team. Chris and I were able to go see my fam jam and walk around the quad at UA. Fertility is moving along. No positive tests yet, but God is faithful :)

ANYWAYS....onto the reason for the blog.....Chris and I lead a Lifegroup on Thursdays called "Before I do." My director is incredible and allowed me to be off on Thursdays so that I could attend. Well, since I'm off why wouldn't I cook dinner for my precious couples, right? For the past 6 weeks, I made 5 meals that I have made before and one week one of the couples made homemade spaghetti. It was incredible!!

Last Thursday, I couldn't think of what I wanted to make, but I knew I wanted to do something that I hadn't made before. Where did I search? Pinterest of course!!

I came across the recipe for the Crock pot Chicken and Dumplings here on Bubblecrumb's blog.

VERY easy! Are you ready?

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 TBSP butter
1 can of chicken broth(I used 1 cup of the chicken broth that I had in stock)
1 onion diced(I used minced onion)
1 TBSP dried Parsley
4 Grands flaky biscuits

Place the chicken in the bottom of the Crock pot. Put the butter on top. Next, put the 2 cans of soup, broth,onion, and parsley in a bowl and mix together. Pour over chicken and cook on high for 4 hours. After the time is up, take the chicken out and shred it. Once shredded, put chicken back into Crock pot and stir. Cut each biscuit into 9-10 pieces and put into Crock pot and stir. Crock pot needs to be on high for another 30 minutes. After the time has elapsed, it is time for dinner!!

We fed 6 adults comfortably with this recipe, and I have to admit, I wanted to make it again the next night.

Next time, I think I am going to add in some veggies. What would you add?

Blessings

Have you really thought about how blessed we all are?  I was sent an article today to read. From the title, you would think that you would be getting tips on how to have a hot body. What it really talked about was blessings and tips to accept them. One of them was to stop wallowing in the pity and another was listening to lies. When satan comes in like a lion looking for prey, he spares nothing.  We are so much bigger than our fears and failures because God is on our side. Brothers and sisters, do not let your joy be stolen.

In life, we will have joys and sadness, but all of these are blessings. Chris said to me one time,"Instead of asking God why? Ask what? What are you trying to show me? What are you trying to teach me?"

Having the Cake and Eating It Too

Who doesn't want to have their own cake and eat it too? I know I do! I am an icing queen. My husband, not so much. Another quality in our relationship that I love so much. I get ALL of the icing, and he can have the cake.

I recently started making my own cake recently. Vanilla is all that I have progressed to, but if it's what people are happy with, why change?

Cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup heavy cream w/ 1/2 cup water

Mix butter and sugar together on medium until fluffy. Then, add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Next, add 1/2 flour mixture. After that is thoroughly mixed, add in the heavy cream, then the last 1/2 of the flour mixture. Grease 2 cake pans, and separate the batter evenly.


Bake on 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick is removed clean.

Cool, remove from pans, and ice!

Here's the buttercream recipe:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp cream
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Whip butter on medium until fluffy. Then add the vanilla and cream. Once mixed, cup by cup add the powdered sugar. 

Here's some pictures of cakes I have recently done:

Fourth of July Cake

Cake for my sweet co-worker for her June birthday

Cookie cake pie

The last one, I haven't made in a while, and it is AWESOME!! Click here for the recipe for Cookie Cake Pie.

Easy Banana Bread

One of the best fruits to have around the house is bananas. They are great before a workout to provide extra energy and control blood sugar. I just happen to be really picky with my bananas. I prefer to have them more on the green side. Chris likes his more ripe. So when they become extra ripe, what else to do than make banana bread?

I found a recipe last year that I used to make banana bread. Chris and I were looking for a healthier recipe, and we found one using applesauce. A huge thank you to My Thoughts for Thought for this recipe:

Ingredients:
3 Bananas
1 Cup of Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup of Applesauce
2 Cups of Flour
1 TSP of Baking Soda
1/2 TSP of Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl, mash bananas, and then add the sugar, eggs, and applesauce. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Once thoroughly mixed, pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick is removed clean.

I have LOVED this new recipe. I hope you all do too!

Sweet July

I was recently told that I needed to blog again. I got onto my site and realized that I hadn't blogged in almost a month! I am so sorry, followers! All of that is about to change. July 1, I had an appointment to go to, and my best friend went with me. After the early morning appointment, we went to multiple stores to site see. Of course we had to go to Hobby Lobby. While there, we were looking at all of the wall decor that was one sale, and I found goodies to help kick off my Parisian Cafe theme kitchen.

How cute is this! I am still in love after having it almost 2 weeks. The utensils were not on sale that week, but I got a huge deal on the picture. It was originally around $80.

With the 4th of July just a couple days away from that shopping trip, I knew I was about to spend more money(which I do best) on ingredients to use to make something yummy for a family cookout. What better than a red,white, and blue cake?

Here we go!

For the cake:
White or French Vanilla cake mix(I used #2)
plus all the ingredients on the box
red and blue food coloring

Preheat oven to 325 and grease 2 cake pans.
Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, and water on medium for 2 minutes.
Split batter between 3 bowls.
Mix 1/3 with several drops of red food coloring until desired shade of red is reached.
Repeat another 1/3 with the blue food coloring.
Leave the last 1/3 batter white.

Now the tedious part. You will need 3 teaspoons. To make the zebra stripe print in the cake, you cake 2 teaspoons of one color batter and place it in the middle of the cake pan. Then, add 2 teaspoons of another color in the center of the first color. You alternate each color and continue this process until the batter is even in both pans. Basically it looks like layered circles. Bake your 2 cake pans for around 28 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted in the middle and removed clean. Remove from pans and allow to cool.

For my homemade buttercream icing
2 sticks butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp whipping cream
4-5 cups powdered sugar

*Red and Blue food coloring to tint icing*

Whip butter until fluffy.
Add in the vanilla and 1 tbsp whipping cream.
Next add in cup by cup of powdered sugar.
Between cup 2 and 3, add in another tbsp whipping cream.
Separate icing into thirds.
Tint icing with food coloring just like we did the cake batter.

I used Wilton piping bags and the big circle tip(because my star tip magically disappeared) to pipe the icing onto the cake.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th celebrating our freedom and honoring those that fought so hard for us to have the freedom that we have today. Without them, and God leading them, we would have completely different lives.