Florida... not Flo Rida

So I named this post Florida... not Flo Rida because it has taken me a really long time to realize that Flo Rida, the rapper, is named after the state ok Florida... derp. I'm kind of slow :)
But this post is really about our family vacation to Florida. The whole fam damily went, my mom, dad, sisters, brothers-in-law, nephew and husband. I was so excited becuase it's the first time I have seen my sister Becky since she moved to Texas with her husband in January.
We all flew in and met at a military hotel on Disney property, Shades of  Green (I thought it was because of the surrounding golf courses, but apparantly it's because Camo is 'shades of green'.... again- derp)
Everyone arrived safe and sound, we enjoyed a week of 80 degree weather and went to all the parks: Disney World, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Universal and Islands of Adventure.
High Points: The Hulk roller coaster, Harry Potter World, seeing my family, not being at work, being with my nephew for a lot of firsts (Pop Rocks anyone?), free popcorn at the sports bar at the hotel.
Low Points: ALL THE CRYING KIDS, when the crying kid was with us :(, having to pay so much for everything, humidity, having to say Good bye to Becky and Mike again :(
Monkey did pretty well considering he is only two years old, only a few tantrums. I thought he did exceptional compared to the other little kids we seen, full on freaking out in the middle of the "Happiest Place on Earth"
I usually like more low-key vacations, but this was fun in a different way- pretty commercial but at least we have those memories. Armando has vetoed amusement parks for the next ten years though- I'm kinda ok with that though. A week was enough for me.

Dobby...err... Doggy

I love the Harry Potter books. They are lovely stories and very well written so I have no problem saying I've read them and am a grown ass woman. Twilight? Those books are crap... but anyways. I was watching The Deathly Hallows the other day and Mondo mentioned that the dog looks like Dobby, the house elf... I don't see it, do you?

Oh Boy!

While I have had some trouble in the baby making department, my best friend has had better luck than me... This little miracle was two years in the making and it gives me hope that it will happen for me as well.

My bestest friend in the world is having a little boy in May and she let me torture take her pictures for practice... I got this really nice camera from my husband (he has this thing where he has to have the nicest of everything possible- I said 'I want a nice camera' translated into 'Please buy me a professional grade camera with lenses, carrying case, etc') and have had no one to practice on except my poor dog... please expect more picture of him in the near future :D

Kinda looks like Brady kidnapped her but I still liked it.

I'm so excited for this little man to show up! But first I will finish planning her bad ass baby shower, woot woot!

Allergy Testin'

I have lots of allergies... Hay, cats and horses I thought. I could never enjoy the fair because I always forgot to bring Benadryl with me. During the Spring/Fall I would randomly break out in hives/sneezing due to some allergy to some unknown floater in the air. Since my insurance covers allergy testing and shots I decided I wanted to do it. 

I scheduled the appointment with Ogden Clinic and let some woman inject about 25 different allergens into the skin of my back, holy freaking itchy back. That was a very uncomfortable hour that I spent on my stomach trying not to scratch my back off with my nails. The technician came in and gave me some 'bad' news. I was having a reaction to every single allergen... but also the two sites that she didn't put any allergen in- I was just reacting. 

SO... the scratch test was void basically- so after downing some Benadryl I headed over to the lab and got my blood drawn instead--- Why didn't we do this in the first place??? I couldn't tell ya.

Huge hives, yuck

I finally got my results back and it's not quite what I thought. I have a mild allergy to dogs, slightly higher to cats and pretty severe allergies to a few different weeds, cottonwood trees and Kentucky blue grass- which is apparently in every yard in Utah... since my allergies span different seasons and feature indoor/outdoors I qualify to get allergy shots... Yay!

I have to go and get injections and they gave me a free coupon for an Epi-pen, an intramuscular shot of epinephrine in case I have a bad reaction and my airway closes- not likely but would like to have on hand anyway.

I hope they work!

DIY Christmas

My goal this last Christmas to have at lease 50% of my gifts be home-made. I have finally figured out how to make it so I could view my pictures that I took so sorry this is so late...

Vintage style Corona and keychain for Izzy

Wine and picnic basket for Bobby and Adrienne

Door sign for The Eggetts (made one for the Moran's & Romero's too)

Homemade treats for all: brownie cookies with candy cane crushed on top, red velvet cupcakes with chocolate decorations, and peanut butter ball squished between pretzels dipped in chocolate.

Movie tickets and Coke for the kiddos

Candied almonds in Grinchy cups for all the Tios

Speculums and Stirrups... Oh my!

So since my ovaries decided Clomid was for chumps my nurse practitioner referred me to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. I met with him on Monday, we went through my history and seeing it all layed out in front of me is a little disconcerting. I have been off of birth control pills for 11 months, and only ovulated 3 times. Twice with the higher doses of Clomid and only once naturally- the very first month I was off of BC pills. When he asked me questions about if I had ever had regular periods- the answer was no. Not once since I started my period had it ever been predictable or reliable- so much that in order to plan my life- I had to go on BC pills.
I had thought with everything we were doing with my NP we were making progress but in reality I've only had 3 chances in the last year to even try to get pregnant- time to quit slackin' and make this happen :)
Once I started my period I went on Day 3 of my cycle to have an ultrasound. I really wanted Armando to go with me so we could start 'doing' this together. Even though 'we' are trying to get pregnant- I am the one going to appointments, taking medications etc. I am so glad that I had him come with me- it made the whole awkward situation go just a little bit smoother.
It's never comfortable to sit half naked (literally half naked, from the waist down) on paper blankets with your legs up in stirrups... but it does take a little bit of the tension out of the room when your spouse is cracking jokes. Especially when he sees the probe cover that they put on the vaginal ultrasound doohickey..."It's a CONDOM?!" He was able to see what I go through at an appointment and was there to ask the questions that I think he is sometimes hesitant to ask me- I guess it's easier to ask a stranger??

So, the girls (ovaries) look good. I have lots of follicles, hence lots of eggs- we just need to trick my body into releasing some of them. I saw my ovaries, uterus and bladder- that was an experience, the nurse said everything was normal looking and so they wrote me a prescription for Femara- another medicine to help my body produce more estrogen and in turn mature those eggies so they release like they should. I don't want to be super aggressive right now because I am young and I want to do as much as I can without extraordinary measures- so we will try some fancy timing to get pregnant and hope for the best.

Oh God...

Over the last few years I have been missing something,  it took me awhile to figure out what it was.
Utah is predominately LDS, the Mormons, and it's not easy growing up in a culture that is so different from your own... especially when you aren't completely comfortable in your own. I was raised Catholic and didn't agree with a lot of their teachings- I questioned my Faith and instead of trying to strengthen my foundation the church turned me away from religion completely. The last time I stood in a Catholic church was when my sister was married in 2011. Before that I can't even remember.
I finally found a church where I feel comfortable being myself and also feel like I am truly in the presence of God. A regular old Christian church that welcomes one and all- no judgement,  no condemnation just a gathering of people who want to be closer to God.
I haven't changed my ways or how I feel about life, but I do feel better giving a little bit of my time each Sunday to think of God and what blessings I do have. This is kind of a weird post- not meant to make anyone laugh but I just feel like sometimes when this life gets a little too hard to handle alone it really does help to give it up to God.
I'm not wanting to cram any beliefs down anyone's throats but just like anything else in my life it just felt right to share, so thanks for letting me