an eggcellent easter

The boys were pretty excited to wake up and find Easter eggs all over!

They were pretty cute to show us (and each other) what was in their Easter baskets:

We then busted the eggs open to see if there was candy or money in them:

We went to church sporting new shirts:

After church, we went to hang out with Ryan, Kerry and the kids, Grandma, and Ben & Kathy:

It was definitely an eggcellent day!

national infertility awareness week

Hey, its never too late to get educated....right?!

Since its National Infertility Awareness week, and I thought I should do at least one post about it.  I know you're waiting for Easter pictures, but you'll just have to wait a little longer.

Infertility sucks.  

Its really hard...especially when you don't know the cause and/or reason (as in our case).

I don't talk about it much, because to retell it is to relive it, and this has been hard enough to go through once. Also, over the years, I've heard my share of well-meaning but cringe-worthy statements that just made me feel worse (not that it was intended that way....but still the result was the same).

Here's just a few of my thoughts:

-Please do not diagnose what may or may not be causing the problem.  You're not a doctor.  Believe me, we've been to doctors and even they don't know.

-Please do not tell us to "just relax" or "just go on vacation".  

-Please do not assume.

-Please do not tell us that we're so lucky that we get to "just adopt".

Don't for a second get me wrong...adoption has truly been a miracle for our little family, and I love it.  But, it is not the easy way out.  Adoption is not the cure for infertility.  It is not an easy process.  It is a roller coaster ride.  It is stressful.   It is expensive.  

It is the hardest thing we've ever done.

Recently on Facebook, I posted this as my status:

"Infertility is a heart-wrenching, faith-questioning, relationship-testing, life-altering experience." 

That statement is completely true 

(and by the way, are we friends on Facebook?).

However, I'm grateful for the blessings I have as a result of our infertility....namely:

(one of our recent pictures of the day...I found them playing together in Kaden's closet)

There's many more tender mercies we've received as a result of our infertility, but I'll save that for another day.

My last 2 cents...be nice to those around you who may be struggling with infertility. Its so not your job to fix it or even make us feel better. It goes a long way to just acknowledge the trial and offer a hug. Enough said.

potato stamps

One day last week, Kaden and I made potato stamps.

He thought I was crazy, but I proved that it really could work!

We made hearts, a tank, and some dots.

It was messy and fun!

happy easter

It is true.

Happy Easter!

we're still here...

Its been one of those weeks that have been pretty busy, but we haven't been out doing a ton of stuff.  Does that even make sense?  Last week we were in Riverton a lot helping with whatever we could (My sister's family had an emergency...you can read about it here).  We're so glad things are better!

Anyway, here's some of our pictures of the day from the past couple of weeks.

Yes, I'm still going strong, and I'm really liking it.

We had movie night...complete with pillows and blankets and popcorn on the floor.

Bosten has been completely fascinated by these plastic medicine cups.  I find them on the floor ALL THE TIME.  He loves stacking them (and knocking them over) or giving drinks to his friends.  He's such a funny kid.

 We're back in (or still in) our Army and forts stages.  Kyle and the boys have been hauling every pillow from the house downstairs to create battlefields and  bunkers and forts.  Its so great.

We've recently decided that the boys could do chores and help out around the house.  Kaden already was, but now he officially knows what his "jobs" are.  One of Bosten's jobs is to help put the silverware away from the clean dishwasher....obviously, he still needs some practice at getting stuff where its supposed to go.

 Monday I went and finally used a gift card that the boys got me  a year or so ago for a massage.  Afterwards, I met my mom for lunch and a pedicure.  

HEAVEN.

I was way overdue for some me time.

Kaden had his 6 year appointment this week.  He's 41 pounds and 46.5 inches tall.  

Brody came over to play.  We set up crossbows and catapolts and had a crazy battle.

a fireman for the day

Fireman Tyson came to visit today, and it was pretty darn exciting.

 He taught us about fire safety and then gave us our very own hat!

Then, we got to check out the fire truck, play with the hose nozzle, and even sit in the truck!

Don't worry, Bosten had a chance to check it out too.  

We thought we were done, and then 

he offered to take us for a ride!

Holy Smokes.

This is Kaden talking to Tyson on the headsets.

There's a very good possibility that he will be changing his answer to what he want to be when he grows up after today.

bowling is super great

Yesterday we took the boys bowling.  Kaden has been several times and loves it, but this was Bosten's first time.  He was pretty excited about it, and knew just what to do (thanks to Curious George).

Bosten did not want or need any help.  We'd set the ball on the ramp, and he'd take it from there.  He was bowling strikes and spares like crazy, much to Kaden's dismay.  Check out the scores (I hadn't finished yet, but wanted to make sure I'd gotten a picture before the new game started).

Nice work, Bosten!