Summertime.... and the living is easy.

It's hard to believe that summer is halfway over. I would like to say that I  haven't posted anything because we've been sooooo busy, but the truth is quite the opposite; I haven't done much of anything because we've been sooooo relaxed these days. We officially completed our time at the boy's ranch ministry, and moved back to our hometown at the end of April. We're renting for now, but will be moving again when we find a house to purchase that's closer to the job Mr. Myth is starting in August.

That's right- new job, new house, new community coming up next! The job is at a charter school that focuses heavily on math (Mr. Myth's specialty) and science. It's an exciting career move and his making a normal teaching salary will allow me to stay home with little girls again.

So, what HAVE we been doing?

Well, in May we went on a BIG TRIP to see a family member graduate medical school and made several stops along the way:

First we saw my friends from college who have little girls about the same age. Then we saw cousins at the graduation/ commissioning ceremony. Then we went to see Sam's aunt and uncle, and concluded with visiting the girls' third cousins a good friend who had recently moved away. 2 weeks on the road was plenty. I'm glad to be done, but I'm also glad for the fantastic opportunity afforded us to take the trip. Here's a sample of the fun.

Who doesn't love a pool?

First cousins!

Shameless "my kid likes healthy food" brag pic.

Third cousins!

Porch swing on a summer evening- perfect.

What else? Well... not much. We go to the park a lot. We go to the library for story time. We walk to the grocery store around the corner that gives out cookies. We have my sister and the cousins over for a little post-partum exercise session a couple of times a week (her little boy is 2 days older than Ellie!). Mr. Myth had a minor surgery a couple of weeks ago, so we've been laying low and even watching some Veggie Tales in the evenings. Hannah doesn't know that the originals aren't the cool hip thing for kids right now!

It has been so. nice. Just hanging out as a family and having time for friends whenever has been a huge breath of fresh air. I love summer. Soon enough things will get hectic again, in different ways, but I hope we can hold onto some of the solidarity and enjoyment of each other's company that we've been reveling in recently. The most recent picture-worthy thing we did was the 4th of July parade. There was a water fountain incident on the way back, I could tell you, or I could show you:

"Oh look! Water!"

"I'm wet..."

Hannah: The Year in Review

It's been a long year.

In April 2013, I started a job. 12 hour night shifts, 3 nights a week, every other weekend. Hannah was 15 months old. She could barely talk. She loved grapes, cheese, and the park. She looked like this:

She started going to a babysitter on days I had to sleep and Daddy had to work. She learned a little bit of Spanish from the babysitter- we still use the word "agua" almost exclusively when talking about water. I missed her on days I worked, but she adjusted well. I used the opportunity to slowly wean, since our doctor wouldn't do another embryo transfer until a month after we were done completely. 

In July 2013, Mr. Myth and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. Hannah was 18 months old. We were down to nursing only at night a few nights a week. I was preparing to cut her off completely once my next cycle started. It didn't. We looked like this:

In September 2013, Hannah was still nursing since I no longer had to wean for the next embryo transfer. She was 20 months old. We started potty training. She had to get a new babysitter because the old one started a new job. She potty trained in about 3 weeks, using the "3 day method." She still didn't talk much, so she could use the potty, just not talk about it. Good thing she'd go on command. She loved to "help" with dishes. She looked something like this:

In October 2013, Hannah's granddad got remarried, and Hannah got to be the flower girl! She was not shy. She marched right down that aisle with her flower girl partner in crime like she was born for it. I should start a business renting her out as a professional wedding attendant. We stopped by a pumpkin patch with her cousin (1 year older) on our way back home from the wedding. She was 21 months old and looked like this:

In December 2013, Hannah turned 2! I got a wild hair and threw her a themed birthday party- the Very Hungry Caterpillar. She obliged by being her Very Hungry Self. She had started picking up lots of words just a couple of weeks before her birthday. She looked like this:

In March 2014 she was 27 months old. She would put her hand on my belly and say "baby!" She was talking in 2-3 word sentences. I was on maternity leave and loving the time I had with her as she transitioned from being an only child to being a big sister. We looked like this:

And then, everything changed. In 1hr and 45 minutes on the morning of March 28th, we went from a family of 3 to a family of four. Now we look like this:

Mythbuster: Personal Edition

Under Inspection:

We can't get pregnant on our own

Background

Infertility as a diagnosis sounds like a life sentence doesn't it? 

Factual Experience

As we have every intention of going back for Hannah's siblings, we had been taking steps to prevent a natural pregnancy prior to the next transfer. It kind of goes without saying that we weren't totally committed to our method of choice, since it seems very unlikely that we need to actually try to prevent.

Conclusion that I will never experience a viable pregnancy without medical intervention: FALSE

Since I have been gone for so long (and huge family updates will be coming soon), this is both a pregnancy and birth "announcement" for the two people who might sometimes follow my blog. I will save my thoughts on how this relates to our embryo adoption plans for another post.

Meet Eliora, our second bundle of unbelievability! Hannah has commandeered her already.