The Time is Here

So I bet everyone is wondering how things have been going for the last 4 months???... The answer would be crazy...and amazing!

Between earning extra income, being apart for two months to make that extra income, being a full time teacher who enjoys putting on plays and other time consuming activities, doctor appointments, minor surgeries, and mental stress... well it suffices to say,  that it's been a daily struggle!

While coping with this ever evolving sacrifice, to have children, I was unable to bring myself to keep up this blog. Sometimes, even on a daily basis, I was eondering if this would ever work out. A blog is a lot like a personal journal and I'm the type of person who loves to keep a journal. That is.... until life gets rough, then it just isn't fun for me to re-live my stress by writing it all down. I wanted to be positive and push forward, not dwelling on the struggle.

But things are going really great right now :) I dont have a lot of time right now, but I wanted everyone to know that we started IVF! This is all finally happening!

April 14th was our first day. Tom has given me shots daily, and I've had doctor appointments every couple days. Our egg retrieval will be this week, then one or two embryos will be implanted the following week. We hope to be pregnant in May!

So much has happened! We have seen real miracles take place, and we are so excited for the results. We know that God's hand has been the main reason why our journey to baby has moved forward so quickly. We are so grateful!

I promise I'll write more details soon. Until then, keep us in your prayers. These next two weeks will be really important.

Tom and I Snowmobiling this winter 

with the Pratt Family

Snowman Fundraiser

I handmade some really cute Sock Snowmen, perfect for a holiday decoration or gift (visiting teaching even).  Proceeds from these sales will go to our baby fund. I will be in Idaho Falls till Saturday, then off to Kennewick. So let me know if you want yours brought with me to Washington. Prices posted on pictures. 

Here we go!

I meant to post this last weekend...
Tom and I had the opportunity to go to Tom's preprocedure appointment in Salt Lake last Friday. It felt good to be making progress.

Our doctor journey all began with some questions to my family doctor over a year ago, who suggested Tom visit his doctor, who referred Tom to a Urologist,  who confirmed his condition and led us to meet with a fertility doctor, who then had Tom go to a male fertility specialist for his retrieval procedure. 5 doctor appointments later and still a ton more to go.

Our goal is to have our embryos implanted March or April 2016. We are so grateful for all the donations that have made these doctor appointments possible.

Stay tuned for more updates.

The Crazy life of a Teacher ;)

This week I have parent teacher conferences! Ugh... how I very much dislike the horrible nightmares I get during these weeks! Here are a couple examples of what I'm talking about; my classroom being a disaster with no time to tidy up, parents hating me and wanting their kids out of my class immediately, the principal asking me to no longer teach at the school due to my poor teaching abilities, forgetting all the papers I've prepped for the conferences so I have nothing to show parents, etc.

Only teachers can truely understand the way this feels, which is very stressful and exhausting. I hear it doesn't get much better with time or experience... lame.

So a little update on our Saving for the Stork campaign, we have raised a little bit more in the last couple days. Unfortunately, I'll have to give you a more detailed update, as soon as this week is over! :)

Happy Parent Conference Week!

Last Day to Shop While Contributing to our Cause

Today is the last day of our MyThirtyOne fundraiser. Make sure to take a second and look at all the great deals. 20% of each sale goes to our baby fund.

To place an order, go to www.mythirtyone.com/charitymiller then click on my parties, our parties is titled Saving for the Stork. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Saving for the Stork, MyThirtyOne fundraiser

This fundraiser goes through the end of November, so only 2 days left! 20% of each purchase goes straight to our baby fund! Please take a look online and help our cause if you can. 

Day 35

Ok, let me just say that... at times being a teacher makes crazy life, even crazier! I was putting in grades for a week, had family (7 people) stay with us 5 days, and then thanksgiving road trips and family events for another week. Let's just say that each night I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow!

I'm happy to have time to blog again!

Tom and I have been really blessed! I think we've raised about $5,000. (I'll let you know the actual amount once we get back to Idaho.) Thank you to all who have contributed!

Tom and I are currently getting close to done with some of our car projects. We were given a 1990 Volvo station wagon for a very small price, so we could clean it out and sell it for our campaign. Tom is almost done fixing up a 90 something Monte Carlo, that he has been working on for the last year. Lastly, we bought a crashed car that Tom fixed over Thanksgiving break, to replace my Suzuki Aerio which we are selling for baby money.

This Thanksgiving, I am so grateful that Tom has car fixing abilities! This talent of his, is making a huge impact on our money saving efforts. He is able to buy wrecked vehicles and give them a second life. This has been such a blessing!

I may not be able to rebuild cars, but I do have a talent with crafts. This week I made 30 sock snowmen. I plan to sell them to help our cause. I've even made some of them into cute little families :) Keep an eye out on facebook, I'll be posting pictures soon!

Thanks to the donations, we have recieved, we have been able to begin our medical journey. We have met once with fertility specialist, both of us are going to get bloodwork done, Tom's first doctor appointment is Friday, and then he will have his retrieval procedure done. It is so special to see things progressing, when a year ago we were fearing the possibility of being parents at all.

At this Thanksgiving time, our hearts are full with a love and appriciation for the many blessings that have come in our time of need. We are so excited to become parents through the generosity of others and support from our heavenly father.

Until next time, our hearts are full and we feel love to all our supporters.

  Below is an example of sock snowmen :)

A white wonderland in Idaho before Thanksgiving this year! Funny that I wore sandals to work. I had no idea it would snow so much! 

This is the Volvo we have up for sale :)