If at first you don't succeed...

Well, the medication didn't work. I was nauseous and had cramping all night Thursday night and got almost no sleep at all, but it did not start the bleeding and cleaning-out process it was supposed to. I had to go in to the Dr Friday morning anyway for yet another ultrasound to see if anything changed at all... he said the blood looked like it was making its way down, but that little booger of an empty gestational sac hadn't moved. So, even though I was crampy all day on Friday and felt nauseous here and there throughout the day, it was for nothing. So, now we have to try again. The doctor prescribed the medication again and I have yet another appointment on Tuesday morning.

I'll be honest, this is getting really old. I'm frustrated and just want it to be over. I'm sore from all the probing and examining and I hate cramping and nausea more than just about anything in this whole world.

Summer Rewind Part VI (Back to School)

This post marks the end of the "Summer Rewind" series of posts, as well as the end of the girls' summer vacation. School began at Rosa Parks-Edison Elementary on Tuesday, August 5th. Victoria is in 4th Grade, and Bridget began Kindergarten (FULL DAY) and she was just beside herself with excitement! She's been ready to go to school for a while now. Tricia and I did preschool with her and Lauren for a semester, so she was just so excited to get into "real" school and show off what she already knew. So, here they are, the Vail girls, both in school now!





The poor kids--it was raining on their first day. Bridget hates rain--it scares her. But, she was so brave. Vicki goes to school an hour earlier than Bridget, so they have different buses in the morning, but they ride home together. The other gal is the neighbor, Ayshia.





I just could not wait to see Bridget's face and hear how her very first day of school went! I stood at the bus-stop for a long time waiting for them to return home. They're always way behind schedule the first day or two, so I waited on that corner for like half an hour. But, it was worth it to hear all about their first day experiences. Vicki did especially well this year transitioning into the change of a school routine and getting to know a new teacher and class. I'm very proud of both of them.

Summer Rewind Part V (Monster Veggies)

Before we left for our week-long trips to Gatlinburg and Ohio, we did all the outdoor house maintenance as usual--mowed the lawn, pulled veggies from the garden, etc. But, when we returned, in that one week's time, some monster vegetables grew in our garden! Take a look at what we found in our garden when we returned... the biggest zucchini (Bridget calls it zoo-candy) was a whopping 4 pounds, 8 ounces!

No baby

Well, I just returned from my ultrasound. The doctor and I are certain now there is no baby. By now we should have been able to see a yolk sac at least, but it's just an empty gestational sac. It did grow a little bit, but only a couple days worth in size when a whole week has passed. So, apparently by body is just a little slow to realized what's going on. Also, we could see there was a lot more blood in my uterus this time. So, it really is a miscarriage.

I have to take some medication tonight to begin the process (this way I don't have to wait for a month or two for my body to get the message that the sac is empty). I go back in for another ultrasound tomorrow to make sure I'm not bleeding too much. So, it's not going to be a fun weekend for me, but at least now I know what the game-plan is and I can adjust accordingly. Hopefully in a week or two I'll be feeling a lot better. I'm a wimp when it comes to pain, so I'm not looking forward to this one bit.

I'm very sad and disappointed and feeling very impatient at the moment (I wanted that baby and now it'll be at least year before I get to hold it, if it is meant to be that way), but I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me and my family. I'll be okay once the pain is gone, and then I can go forward from there. I think once my family is home tonight, we should celebrate all our blessings and a fresh start from here. It's been a long few weeks. It'll be good to move forward.

Summer Rewind Part IV (Ohio)

When we were done with our family reunion in Gatlinburg, instead of heading straight home to Indy, we went to Eaton, Ohio to visit our friends Shawn & Dawn who had just moved there. Shawn got a job in that area about year ago and they just finally moved the whole family over there this summer. I have spent many hours with Evan and Emma while Dawn runs her Pepperidge Farms route. So, the home they're renting in Eaton is really nice--it's in a huge gated community that is built around a lake. It began as a vacation spot and eventually became a home community. The large lake has an area that was made into a public beach. Their landlord gave them his old wave runner, so we took turns taking it out on the lake (SO fun!!!). The kids absolutely had a blast here. It was very relaxing. We stayed with them Thursday through Saturday.

Summer Rewind Part III (Stevie)

While we were in Gatlinburg, Tim and Jenny had their first baby, a handsome little boy named Steven. He is so sweet. I'm so happy for them--they've waited a long time for this. We didn't get to see them in the hospital since they were released before we got home, but we went to see them in Brownsburg the day after we got home.

Summer Rewind Part II (Gatlinburg)

Okay, so that one and only week in between Girls' Camp and Youth Conference, we went on a family trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Smokey Mountains. My aunts, mom & grandparents all own this time share package and once or twice a year they've been pooling their points together to have family reunions. This is a fairly new tradition, and we sure like it!

So, we stayed at this time share resort. Somehow we lucked out and the four of us got our very own two-bedroom condo! It had a full kitchen, full living room/dining room area, a master bedroom complete with huge spa garden tub and separate shower/toilet room, a second bedroom and second bathroom. Some of it was nicer than our own house (like the king size bed and the glorious garden tub and ginormous bathrooms). There was even a laundry closet and they give you free laundry soap. Only thing we had to do was run the dishwasher and take out the trash before we left.

The resort had two outdoor and two indoor pools and two hot-tubs. There was a new open kiddy water park, a mini putt-putt course, and a couple playgrounds spread out for the kids. All of this was included in the resort. It was great.

We did also do some sight-seeing. My favorite was going for a walk in the mountains and visiting the nature center (am I getting old or what?). If I can guess, I'd bet that Dollywood was the girls' favorite part and me & Aaron pretty much hated that day. Big tourist trap, in our opinion. But the girls loved it--it was their first time at an amusement park. Bridget was a fearless animal when it came to the rides. Vicki is a little more apprehensive, but she was braver than usual.

Our trip was Sunday through Thursday. The drive was about 6-8 hours long. It was a very nice family trip. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking...

Summer Rewind Part I (YW Events)

First, there was Girls' Camp. My first LDS YW Girls' Camp ever.
I had no interest whatsoever in staying the whole week. Not my thing. It's too stressful for me to leave my family that long.
So, after a long process and lots of stress and worry, we finally got the perfect Camp Director, Susan Manning, who is now an official Advisor in our program. She is fantastic--I just love her.

So, April Ribar and I drove down to camp on Friday evening and stayed the night (and Max came, too). It was hot and humid, but the fireside and testimony meeting were great. It was neat to see what the girls had accomplished all week. It was the first Girls' Camp for the new Indy West Stake, and it was apparent that many of the girls were hesitant to accept the changes at first, but their experience at camp brought them all together and they made new friends. It was a sticky and uncomfortable sleep, what little of it I got, but it was fun to spend the day with the girls and drive them home.


Then there was my first ever Youth Conference.
I wanted to be at everything. It was just two days, so we were able to make arrangements for the girls so Aaron and I could go to all the events. It was wonderful! It started with watching the movie Emma: My Story in this old-fashioned theater in Brownsburg. Then, bright and early, we went to the Temple for the day. The kids had all these classes they attended and took turns doing baptism sessions. It was a great day. The first class, however, one of the teachers hadn't arrived yet, so I had to step in and improvise--it was horrible, those poor kids. It was about journaling... I talked about blogging, too, but it only lasted about 10 minutes and then I ran out of things to say. Then, that evening, we had a dance and it was SO much fun. Aaron and I hung out with the Barlows all weekend and we had a blast. We went to Cheesecake Factory after Friday's movie and had a blast at the dance. Saturday morning was a testimony meeting that was just incredible. Then I drove Amber to her band car wash and Crystal home (after a quick bite at Taco Bell). It was a fun and spiritual Youth Conference--Aaron and I both really enjoyed it.




One of our Mutual activities this month was to plant a tree. We talked about how bearing our testimony is a kind of service, and how faith really is like a seed that can grow into something huge and beautiful if it is nourished. Then, we planted a tree on the church property where one had to be cut down. Bro. Peterson was kind enough to get us the tree and Bro. Taylor helped us with the planting. It was fun. I love my girls.