Exclusive Announcement for Blog Readers Only ;)

If you know me and haven't yet admitted to reading my blog, this may be a hard thing to pretend that you don't know. HeeHee...this could be fun!! ;)

Here goes...would you think we were nuts if we added on to our crazy family one last time? (That is a rhetorical question, you shouldn't answer it unless your answer is "of course Kelly and Spencer, you are *not* nuts!!").

But anyway, don't get too excited or upset, just yet, #5 is still only a possibility.

As some of you may know, in our original IVF cycle that resulted in the triplets, we had two remaining embryos. One of those remaining embryos ultimately became the little boy that we now affectionately call Charlie. That has left us with one remaining embryo. This last remaining embryo has been on our minds quite a bit over the last couple of years. Although we are completely content with our family, we decided that giving the last embryo a chance was the only option that felt right for us. So, yesterday, after about 6 weeks of shots and other medications, the little guy was transferred to his, or dare I say "her" new home...Me!

The transfer went really well and the embryologist said that the qualilty of the embryo was "okay". I have been super-analyzing what "okay" means over the last 24+ hours, but that is what he said.

I don't know why I am so obsessed with odds considering how we have blown away all of the odds with our existing children, but here is how they fall.

According to the Doctor: 28% success for single embryo transfers.

According to me: I adjust the doctor's 28% estimate to about 95% considering our prior successes and then drop it back down to about 33% considering the "okay-ness" of the embryo.

According to Spencer: More than 50%

According to Jen: She thought 50% that it would make it to the transfer, which it did. Then, she gave it a 50% chance that I would get pregnant. Then if I am, she gives it a 50% that it would be a girl. So, bottom line, she set the odds at 12.5% chance that she would get a niece on our side of the family. I guess that is up to 25% now.

What do *you* think???

As nerve wracking and anxious as I am to get some answers, going through this has given us both a lot of peace. With all of the medical intervention and moral dilemmas surrounding our
journey to have a family, it feels really good to have this out of our hands.

We may not know the best for our family, but as God has done in the past, I am sure that he will bless us with the result that will be best for our family. And, for that we are and will always be eternally grateful.

ETA...Oops, I forgot to add that we get the results on the 7th.

Flashback Friday...

Oooops, I'm late....it's "Flashback Saturday".

Drew showing his moves on the dance floor at a wedding.

September 2005

Preparing the boys to be wonderful husbands...

But, it is not going so well.

Our first lesson is what *not* to say to your wife.

One afternoon, Spencer and the boys went out for a fun outing to the park or some place like that. Upon returning and taking a look around the famiy room, Jack announced "Mom, I thought the house would be cleaner when we got home." OUCH!

Then on Thanksgiving, we were driving to the Thanksgiving festivities at my mom and dads. We picked up Grandmom Adelaide on the way there so, I moved to the back of the van and was trying to squeeze myself into the middle seat between Jack and Drew's booster seats. I have done this many times, but the boosters must have shifted closer together because I was having a bit of a problem fitting. Drew noticed my struggle and said "Mom, I think that you must have grown." Double Ouch!! Definitely not what you want to hear on the way to Thanksgiving Dinner.

This morning Jack wondered (out loud) why my teeth are yellow. I don't think my teeth are yellow. :(

I think we've got a lot of work to do.

We're Taking the Tiger Cubs Bowling....

Should I be worried???

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!!

We love you and hope you had a great birthday!!!

It's easy to see why you are loved so much. You are awesome Dad!!

May 2002

Jack & Grandpa's first snuggle

The Crazy Shirt Club

Hmmmm....I don't want to know.

Grandpa with Grandma and all of their boys.

Too much of a good thing!!!

Does anyone have this much Halloween candy left???

I was *finally* able to get it all squeezed into one bowl this afternoon.

Here's a KitKat for perspective on just how BIG this bowl is!

It is never going to be gone....this is so bad...there is always a Kit Kat or Hershey Bar calling my name.

Good thing there are no Swedish Fish left. Can you believe that the boys ate those first because they were afraid that I was going to eat them all. What kind of mom do they think I am?!?! Hmmmmm.....probably the kind of mom that has eaten about 4 pounds of Swedish Fish over the last 2 months. Unfortunately, I've got an extra 5 pounds to show for it too...how does THAT happen???

I think it is about time to start making this candy disappear...into the garbage, not my mouth, in case you were wondering. I wonder if my trick-or-treating pros will notice.

Like my new table???

I ordered it from Overstock.com and the UPS guy brought it yesterday...5 minutes before I had to pick the boys up from school. I was really anxious to put it together...I don't know why....we have lived in this house for 5 years without a table in the foyer....but, whatever. So, after I got home with the boys and we went through the school stuff, and had a snack, I went to work on my new project.


The Internet comments said that it goes together very easily and would take about 20 minutes. All I needed to do was get everything out of the box, attach the 4 legs and the bottom shelf. Cool! I was totally into getting the table together. The boys were in the family room playing, but soon came into the foyer to see what I was doing. They found the box full of styrofoam pieces and started to play with it. I was so focused on my table that I was just happy that they found something to occupy themselves. I knew that they were making a mess, but I figured that I would quickly clean it up when I was finished with the table. Ha! I was "smart" enough to tell them that they needed to stay in the living room with the styrofoam.



Spencer got home when I was about 1/2 way finished with the table. He took a look at the mess in the living room and gave me a look like I was insane. I told him not to worry, that the boys and I would clean it up when I was done with the table.

"look mom....snow!!"

Boy, was I wrong. Yes, it only took me 20 minutes to put together the table. But, I had NO IDEA what a mess styrofoam makes. I hate styrfoam. Yuck! I've always hated styrfoam. I hate the noise it makes when you pull something in styrofoam out of a box, I hate the way a styrofoam cup tastes, it is just yucky!! But, as low of my opinion of styrofoam is, I had no idea what it can do to a house when you CRUSH IT! OMG, it was everywhere!!! And, it was staticy....It stuck to everything!! It was all over the floor, stuck to the furniture, stuck to the kids, IT WAS STUCK TO THE WALL!!! Do you know how hard it is to clean up staticy, teenie-tiny pieces of yuck?!?! I spent an HOUR *trying* to clean it up last night. I had to stop because we had to have dinner and the a Cub Scout Pack Meeting. I spent more time cleaning up today, but I still haven't gotten it all. Since I was not able to get it all quickly, we have tracked it all over the house. I found it in the boys sheets when I was "re"-making their beds this morning. I swear, we are going to be finding this stuff when we are looking for Easter Eggs.

But, it is a nice table...wouldn't ya say??? :)

Flashback Friday...

Group Hug!!!

Florida, January 2005

It's Nap Time...

And, where do you think I can find Charlie...playing nicely, in the family room, BY HIMSELF!!



Why doesn't he do that at 9:30am when I am trying to put the house back together after bringing the boys to school. Or, better yet, how about at 4:30, when it is a free-for-all with trying to get homework done and dinner made.



I mean really, *who* could put happy kid down for a nap!!



Just in case you were wondering, *I* could, and I DID!!!

AHHHHHH........quiet. :)

Just an Ordinary Dinner...

It's November, and it's cold out. Time to pull out the crock pot and dust it off.

I figured today would be a great day to have a crock pot dinner because we have Religious Ed on Tuesday nights at 6:15. That makes for a CRAZY afternoon at our house with trying to get homework done and dinner made and hopefully eaten with enough time for the boys and I to leave at 6:05.

Tonight, I made some sort of chicken/cheese/rice/broccoli/mushroom thing. I've been making it for a few years and it is one of Spencer's favorites. In the past, I think that I made the boys each try it, but did make something else for them. This time, I figured that since they like *most* of the things in this particular dish, I decided not to make an alternative dish.

I have to say that there were mixed reviews...

"Wow Mom, this taste-ted much better than it looks."...ummmm Thanks Drew?!?!

"This is delicious Mom. I'm going to keep eating it until my bowl is empty"

Know that this is the ULTIMATE compliment from Jack. He has to be *persuaded* to finish his dinner every night.

After 10 minutes of "Aaaahhh Done", I finally gave in and made Charlie a hot dog...actually, 2 hot dogs. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry...he just really wasn't going to eat my chicken dish.

Ben has a cold and was using the cough to his advantage to get himself dismissed from finishing his dinner. I think he was one swallow away from making us really pay for forcing him to eat such *horrible* food.

Spencer liked it! I wonder what we should have for dinner tomorrow....oh wait, 3rd Wednesday, triplet moms' night out. WooHoo...Yay me!!

Seriously?!?!

I quit!

So, after posting the last post, I went back to the stupid rating site and, for fun (NOT!), I ran some other blogs. This is my sister's blog rating.

Give me a break! She's got a very nice blog, but genius level?, when I am high school level?. I'm crushed. I introduced her to the blogging world and now she is killing me at it! I'm never going to get over this competitiveness with my sister, am I? Grrrrr....and I was having such a good day.

Genius??? Seriously???


PS. And, NO, I don't know why the font is screwed up and really tiny. And, I don't know how to fix it. Go read Jen's blog if it bothers you. ;)

Silly Stuff...

I saw this silly thing on someone else's blog and, of course, had to try it out.

I wonder what my blog's "reading level" would have been the day we talked about the word "plethora". Probably would have needed some sort of advanced degree...huh dad?



What is the reading level of your blog?

Also, I've been meaning to update my list of blogs that I read. If you are a reader here and want me to include you on the list on my sidebar, let me know. I always feel kind of strange just throwing someone's blog up there without them saying it is ok. I guess that I should get over that and throw all of the ones that I like up there. I'll think about it, but if you want your's included, let me know. I'll be happy to include it, provided you've achieved a respectable "reading level". :)

FOUR Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed...

Hmmmmm...... that's an interesting number of monkeys. ;)

Flashback Friday, Part 2...

I don't want Charlie to feel left out of Flashback Friday, but since he hasn't been around as long, there is less to flashback to. I thought I would link one of my All-Time Favorite Charlie blog posts in case you missed it last March.

Click here.

Happy Weekend!!

Flashback Friday

November 2003

Jack, Drew & Ben

If we build it.....

...they will put their stuff away. Right?!?!


LOL...a mom can dream anyway.


We have a long hallway that has a descent sized closet and access to the garage. Since we don't have a true "mud room", I thought it would be a good idea to convert this hallway into our mud room. I am not good at making decision about buying things so, this project has taken a while to complete. But now, it is pretty much done. Yay!!


I think that I have mentioned before that I am not a naturally organized person. I try to be organized and I would really, really like to be an organized person, but it just doesn't come naturally to me. To my credit, although my own stuff is a bit messy and cluttered, I have always been pretty organized as far as the boys are concerned. If the rest of my house was as organized as their room, I would be thrilled.


Either being an organized person, or NOT, as the case may be, is an inherited trait or I am doing something really wrong. I had the boys' parent teacher conferences this week and I'll just say that the "need to be more organized" was definitely a reoccurring theme. I even took a peek in each of their desks and am quite embarrassed.

So, the whole re-do of our "mud room" did not come a day too soon. I still would like to add a few in/out bins to help with homework organization, but the rest of it is done and I think it is going to work very well.

We started out first by having Cathy paint the walls yellow. When I say yellow, I really mean really YELLOW!


I then got a bulletin board for each of the boys. Since the tan cork boards looked horrible with the yellow walls, I painted the cork, and then the laminate trim, and then I bought and painted letters for their names. I thought they turned out cute and the boys enjoy having a place to show off their best art work. We also added hooks underneath each of their bulletin boards for their backpacks. I *love* not tripping over backpacks all the time now!




Then, I added these cool calendars from Pottery Barn. I stole the idea from my friend Jeannine, who is super organized and manages to do more in a day than I do in an entire week. Thanks Jeannine! The calendars were expensive, but remember how much $$ I saved on school supplies. This was my "reward". :) Now, I'm never going to be the worst mom in the world again.


And then, last but not least, is the closet. Cathy took the doors off for us. The accordion doors on this closet served no purpose other than to pinch fingers. We also took out the old shelf. I built this new cabinet and Spencer attached the coat pole thingies. Now, everything has a place that is easy to use. Yay!!

Now, we are in a week of "training" everyone on our new system. So far, so good. Maybe we'll all become naturally organized people because of our new hallway. Wish us luck!