MIA

Clearly I'm not one of those bloggers that's good about everyday chatting.

A lot has been going on over the last week or so though. I'll probably update with a little snippet on each.

I've been really getting back into couponing, budgeting and meal planning since the beginning of Jan. Doing decent with following it.

I've found some great DIY and decor blogs to follow that I'll be adding to my blog roll this evening.

For now, just a quick hi.

Activated my XM Radio Today

So I bought hubby a new truck back in Oct 10. I was jealous because it came with satellite installed. I hate morning radio when I have to take the kids to school because all I hear is talk, talk and more talk.

The wonderful hubby agreed I could add satellite to my Jeep but because I'm a tight wad, I wanted to do it cheap. I found a great deal on the portable XM Onyx radio a couple months ago.

Yes, I just got around to activating it today. I found the $77/year price online and used that when I called in. Apparently the state of FL has some of the highest taxes in the radio world because my taxes were about $20.

The rep on the line wanted to tell me about this GREAT promo they are running right now...

Get this... 36 months for the price of 27 months. At 5 low monthly installments of approximately $90 each!!!

No thanks. When my year is up, I'll renew at 5 months for $20. That's $4 a month.

On the plus side, I'm loving my satellite radio!!

What is a Whippet?

A beautiful, demure, loving creature and....
they eat poop, they counter surf, they pee inside when it's wet, they poop inside when it's cold, they follow you everywhere, they steal your covers, they take up room on your couch, they get in the trash, they bring in dead animals (to include snakes, mice, birds, squirrels), they need ridiculous beds like cozy caves, they need clothes and lots of collars (why? just because), and they get the zoomies and then run around like a bull in a china shop lol.

BUT I betcha can't have just one!!

Hubby has Drill this Weekend

Shocker I know, right?

Seems like he just got back from a year long deployment (well he did, on Dec 18th) and now he's going to be gone for the weekend.

I'm married to the Army, I know. I know, I know. I. know. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not excited about it.

Thankfully it's only a Sat-Sun drill. Not overnight and not out of town.

Every Morning Is a Battle

Ugh so this morning was no different than the hundreds of others. 7:20am rolls around and it's time to get Little Man out of bed. I get it, he's tired. So am I. To him, morning means monster hellion appears to test mommy's patience. I love my LM to death, so I can't stand when he acts like this. But, never failing, he's a grump. Whining, kicking the covers, complaining about everything. It's a chore in the morning that I'd rather do without. On the rare occasions that he happily jumps out of bed and greets me with a smile, then I worry that he's been body snatched and replaced lol.

My Story of Depression

Depression can be a very scary thing. Many women like to keep it private. I haven't told many outsiders about my journey with depression, but I'm no longer ashamed of it.

It all started after I had my daughter in January 2004. I thought everything was great. But then, I started to lose patience very quickly when she would cry. I was very moody. I didn't enjoy being a mother as much as I thought I should.

My ex husband was not very helpful. He thought I was just being moody even though I exhibited every symptom under the moon and then some for postpartum depression. It was left untreated and predictably got worse.

I got pregnant with my youngest in the fall of 2004. During my pregnancy, my hormones actually seemed to level out and I was feeling back to normal. I was enjoying my daughter and enjoying my pregnancy.

After I had my son in 2005, it seemed like everything fell apart. I was worlds worse than when I had my daughter. I cried all of the time. I was very up and down in my moods. I was very unhappy. Now I had two babies that I loved to the ends of the earth but it was hard to be around them. A mother's worse nightmare. My ex was no help at all. I was crying out for help and he was too self absorbed to see that I needed it.

2006 was one of the worse years. I was far away from home and the people that I loved. I was struggling to keep my head above water and raise the babies the best that I could. Meanwhile, my ex was stepping out on me and cheated on me twice. Needless to say, this was not very good for what I was going through. I had put all of my plans for the future (med school, etc..) aside so that he could continue his schooling in Chicago and that's where I landed.

I couldn't take it any longer and we separated around Thanksgiving 2006. I actually felt better during that time. I filed for divorce in Feb of 2007 and it was final in March of 2007.

I moved down to FL in May of 2007 to be closer to my mom. In Nov of 2007, I found that I had cervical cancer courtesy of the HPV that my ex had brought him on his adventures. This was probably my tipping point and I was being a horrible mother. I would never hurt my children, but I was yelling at them, giving them spankings out of anger sometimes, closing up inside of myself.

Finally at my annual appointment in fall of 2007, I told my gyno that I needed help. She sent an immediate rush to a psych and I was put on meds. I've been on Cymbalta since then along with a myriad of other drugs.

In 2008, I met my soul mate and he has been here for me more than I could ever have hoped for. He has kept me grounded and helped me through hard times. We've gone through hard times together.

Fast forward to 2011 and we want to have a little one of our own. I went off my anti depressants on 1/16/2011. But the beginning of that journey will be for another post.

Miss Monkey has a bday party on 1/22

Can't believe our baby girl will be 7!

This is our first "actual" party where she has invited classmates and other friends besides just family. And she wanted it at the Children's Museum lol.

They are going to do a dinosaur adventure at the museum.

For the theme, she wanted horses and the like. I'm not complaining, horses are much better than Hannah Montana or Spongebob!

Hubby had a Vasectomy Reversal!

Well this is sort of the foundation of our blog. To document our journey as a family and with Army life. We decided that we wanted to have a child together, and that necessitated a vasectomy reversal. I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote about our experience since that's just easier for this first post:

1/14/2011

Hello ladies!

Well DH had his VR with Dr. Roeder this morning at 7 am.

We went in and first met Dean. He was wonderful!! Did some paperwork and then gave DH an antibiotic and two tylenol.

Dr. Roeder came in and we met him. He is absolutely fabulous. His bedside manner and personality are wonderful! Talked with him and then we got dressed for the procedure.

DH was not given versid or a calming med before hand.

Before we started, DR prayed and it was lovely. Made DH and I both tear up.

He did the left side first. The numbing shot and medicine were uncomfortable for DH but nothing he couldn't handle. Once the procedure got started, he didn't feel anything usually and even fell asleep some.

I stood over his head and watched the entire procedure. It was super fascinating. Then it was time to view the semen on the left side:

Looked under the microscope: MILLIONS of healthy WHOLE sperm!!!!! I was ecstatic!!

(I had DH on a multivitamin for the past few months and started him on fertileblend the past couple weeks. He's also very active and healthy in general.)

DH had a granuloma built up in his tube which DR. R said was good because it allowed for some leakage and meant the sperm production was still working. There was no back pressure because of this or signs to tell the body to stop producing sperm. We definitely got lucky. Left side approx 45 min, then onto right side.

His right side was definitely more tender and sensitive than the left one. Dr. R again told us everything he was doing and what was going on. He and Dean worked seamlessly together as a well oiled machine. Hardly uttering any words.

Time for right side semen analysis:

There were considerably less sperm on the right side, but the ones we did see were whole healthy sperm. I am super excited about all of this!

DH also had a granuloma on his right tube as well.

All said and done, we were out of the office by 9:30.

He also didn't give him a pain RX. Told him just to take tylenol. I guess if he needs one in the morning, Dr. R would give him one.

Hubby said it was much easier than expected. He gave Dr. R a giant hug and thanked him. He said that his manner was excellent and was so glad we chose him.

The worst part for DH was staying still and then having his hands go numb every now and then. But Dr. R let him move around and stuff as long as DH told him he needed too. Dr. Roeder's number one concern was always making sure hubby was comfortable!

We have ZERO regrets about coming out here to see Dr. Roeder. I will recommend him wholeheartedly without a doubt to anyone. I can see why he is so popular just because of his skill and bedside manner.

We've been resting for the afternoon. Headed home on Sunday. We have a checkup with Dr. R on Sat morning.

Just wanted to share our story and put any fears to rest of those who might be having an upcoming VR.

Btw, hubby wants me to let you all know that he's picking on me about sharing that DH got his junk cut open this morning and he had swimmies and blah blah (his words lol) So he's not in too much pain that he can't be his usual self.

I am so proud of my husband. My heart swelled with love while sitting by him when he was having the procedure done. Seeing what he was going through so we could have a chance at our own little one just made me fall in love all over again with him.

Here's a link to the thread if you want to read more:

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a25937581/had_our_vr_with_dr._roeder_this_morning?cpg=3&csi=2280430566&pd=1