Halloween

Dave says: Last year, Skye wasn't old enough to really appreciate Halloween (despite a really cute tiger costume). This year, Halloween suddenly became exciting. We went to a Halloween party the weekend before that was a lot of fun and she got to wear her puppy costume around and play some games. Surprisingly, the haunted house seemed to be her favorite part. She went through it three times and then kept wanting to wander back in.

She also had a lot of fun wandering around the neighborhood on Halloween. She had a bucket shaped like a pumpkin and it wasn't long before she figured out what she was supposed to do. She would walk up to a door and bang on it while saying "snack, snack." Because there aren't a ton of kids in the neighborhood, everyone was excited to see her and she got a lot of candy. Our nearby neighbors gave her a glow stick with a butterfly on it which was a big hit (she really likes butterflies right now). It was also a lot of fun for mom and dad who got to go around with her and see her growing up a bit. At first, we thought we would just do a street or two but she (and I) was having so much fun that we kept going and going. Eventually, Alisha had to carry her pumpkin basket because it was so heavy with candy.

October Happenings

Alisha says: October flew by. We still saw many hot days with temperatures still in the high 90's. Despite the heat we still got out and did a few things.

Crazy morning hair

We made three trips to the zoo. The first was with Christine, Jonathan, Charlie and Grandma Venice. The second was with our friend Emily and her two girls, at this visit we got to see the new dinosaur exhibit. The third trip was with our friend Monica and her little girl. Skye will barley touch the goats.

Skye loves "helping" fold the laundry. Here she has dressed herself in two pairs of Dave's shorts and two shirts.

Wearing her Halloween puppy costume around the house.

A trip to the Botanical Gardens and the butterfly exhibit with Dave's parents.

My mom came for a visit. It took Skye a few hours to warm back up to her but then they were best buddies for the next few days. They played and giggled in the fort, went to the aquarium and rode the carousel at the mall.

She already wants to help pump up the bike tires.

More great morning hair.

Dave took her on her first ATV ride which she loved and now wants to do all the time.

We visited the fall festival at a local farm.

Fall Vacation: San Diego

Dave says: When fall break arrived, it was time to head to San Diego for a few days. We hitched up the trailer and headed to Campland on the Bay. We pulled in on a Saturday and found the campground quite busy. By mid-week it was much quieter. On Saturday night we rode our bikes to the beach on Mission Bay and grabbed some take out. Skye played in the sand and got very dirty.

On Sunday morning, we went to Balboa Park. The park was having a Maker event where we could walk around and see lots of things including a giant robot. The highlight for Skye was this wooden tunnel that she liked to stand right in the middle of. Eventually, she realized that you are supposed to keep walking through it and then did a few laps. We also did the super old/super long/super cool carousel from 1918 and a ride on the mini train. Finally, it was time for lunch at one of the food trucks. It was a little cooler in the afternoon when we rode our bikes to the beach. In the evening, we went to Old Town for some average Mexican food but some good music and sights.

On Monday, we went hiking at Torry Pines Park to the north where there are some rare pine trees and some nice views of the ocean. Skye liked playing with the hiking poles but wasn't always as keen on being in the pack. We played on the beach afterwards and even had the blankets get hit by a wave. On the way back, we got a taste of busy California driving by making a half dozen turns and wasting a half an hour trying to get in and out of a drive through. In the afternoon, we headed to La Jolla where there is a nice waterfront walk with seals and ocean cliffs. Skye was more excited about walking on the rocks near the seals than the seals themselves. We grabbed some take out pizza and ate it on the park by the beach.

We figured Tuesday would be the least busy day and so we went to Sea World. This worked out well because the park was about the emptiest we had ever seen an amusement park. Skye walked right onto rides like Elmo's Flying Fish, something that resembled tea cups, and Oscar's flying eel that goes from side to side. We did an attempt at a dolphin show and discovered that Skye preferred running around in the bleachers to actually watching what was happening. However, she did really like all the aquariums with fish and other ocean creatures. We thought she would really like the penguins but her favorite part of this exhibit was running around in the back on an angled floor in front of video screens. Alisha bought us some tickets online that included "free all day food" and so this meant we had a snack at one place when we arrived, a big lunch somewhere else, and then an early dinner at a third location. The food was your typical amusement park fare but I delighted in gorging myself. Skye was getting cranky by mid-afternoon and so we found a quiet patch of grass and tried to get her to sleep. I had almost given up when she finally fell asleep and this rejuvenated her for a final push through the rest of the park.

Wednesday was our final day and we did a longer bike ride around Mission Bay followed by a stop to play at the playground. In the afternoon, it was off to Ocean Beach and the farmer's market. We went out on the pier, had some ice cream, saw some really big bubbles and a kite, and ran on the sand near the waves (but not in the water too much). The farmer's market had good food but was crowded and we tried to eat while containing Skye at a nearby park where people were hoola hooping, having drum circles, practicing acrobatics, and doing all other types of unusual things. On Thursday morning, it was back to Phoenix. Overall, it was a nice escape with pleasant weather and a lot of things for Skye to do.

September Happenings

Alisha says: September came and went quickly. Dave was very busy with work as he was teaching so we stuck around town but still managed to do a few fun things.

We went to Dave's family work party with bowling and games.

It is still hot hot hot in Phoenix. 

Skye's cousin turned 2 so we had lunch at the mall and rode the carousel.

Skye likes "helping" with the laundry which means trying to put on various items of clothing

Dave and I actually got to go on a date out to dinner all by ourselves. It was so relaxing and nice to just eat and talk. We went to the patio at the Las Sendas golf club where we got to sit outside, enjoy the view/sunset and listen to some live music.

We tried to escape the heat by heading to Payson. We hiked at the waterwheel and then had a rest at Dave's parents property before playing at the park and returning home.

My dad's birthday is in September so we took this picture and sent it to him.

Were having a......

Alisha says: GIRL!! At our OB appointment a few weeks ago the doctor looked and looked to see what the gender of the baby was and had a hard time getting a good view. After what seemed like forever he said he thought it was a girl but to "not paint any nursery room walls yet" before a double check at my next appointment. We decided to keep it a secret (which drove a few family members crazy) until I had my anatomy scan at 20 weeks where the ultrasound tech got a good view and confirmed that it was indeed a girl. We are very excited!!

Pregnancy Journey

Alisha says: We did IVF to have Skye and had extra embryos left over to grow our family. After Skye turned one I started looking for a fertility clinic here in Phoenix. I found one I liked and we set up a consultation in November 2016 with Dr. Mark Amols at New Directions Fertility Center. We discussed our situation and that we had frozen embryos at a clinic in Seattle. We decided to have our embryos transferred to the clinic in Phoenix and start the process to do a frozen embryo transfer (FET). There is still medication, lots of injections and many trips to the clinic involved but overall the process is much easier than the egg retrieval part. We got set up and did a single embryo transfer in January 2017. I waited impatiently for the first blood draw to measure my hCG levels that would indicate if I was pregnant or not. Unfortunately the test came back negative. We were sad but felt fortunate that we still had several embryos left and set things in motion for another transfer. In March we transferred another single embryo. This time I got a very small hCG level reading but it didn't increase like it should have at the follow up blood test and by the third blood test the level had dropped meaning that the transfer was once again unsuccessful. The emotional roller coaster of this process is a lot to take. I couldn't believe we were going to have to do a third transfer! I really thought we would do the first one and then be happily pregnant. Of course life doesn't always go how we think or plan. We had a meeting with the doctor and we decided to try a little different protocol for the third transfer. On May 19th, 2017 we did a third single embryo transfer. I had my first blood draw 5 days later and got a positive hCG reading of 17! Yay!! This was good news but we would need to do a few more blood draw to make sure the number was raising like it should before celebrating too much. The amount is suppose to double about every 48 hours so two days after my first blood draw I had another one and the number us up to 59, 3 days after the second blood draw it was up to 224 and a fourth and final blood draw came back at 651. This was all very good news and we were so excited! My first ultrasound was on June 8th at 5 weeks 4 days pregnant. It was to early to hear a heartbeat but we got to see a little mass of cells. This was my last appointment at the clinic as you transfer to an ob for the rest of your pregnancy care. We really liked the doctor and had a good experience at the clinic.

I continued to give myself daily progesterone injections until I reached the 12 week mark. After we returned from our summer vacation I had my first appointment at my regular ob office on 7/24 at 12 weeks. It was so fun to see a little baby on the screen! It is crazy how much they develop from a mass of cells to something that resembles a baby in 12 short weeks. Crazy!

My next appointment was at 16 weeks and while Dr. Beck was doing the ultrasound he said he would try to see if he could tell the gender. It took what felt like forever as he couldn't get a good view but after a while he told us that he thought it was a girl but not to paint any nursery walls until our next appointment to confirm the gender. Dave thought it was a girl going into it and I wasn't sure so I was guessing it was a boy but were thrilled at having another daughter and for Skye to have a sister.

At 20 weeks we had our anatomy scan where they do a detailed ultrasound of the baby to make sure everything is good. We were able to confirm that we were having a girl and that she appeared to be healthy.

Twins for a Day

Alisha says: We watched Skye's cousin who is only 6 weeks older than she is for a day. Dave and I decided to be brave and take them to the aquarium at the mall. They were both really good and since they are so close in age and both have a little red in their hair it felt and looked like we had twins. They both had fun looking at the fish and playing in the water at the aquarium and then taking a ride on the carousel afterwards. We had fun playing twins for a day but also realized how much work it would be with two toddlers. Haha