My New Glasses!

I recently went to the eye doctors after failing my drivers license eye test. It was determined that my left eye needed some extra help. They really said that I only need them for driving at night. I'm amazed at what I can see now with them!

Did I ever tell you when I was a child I purposely failed my eye examine. I really wanted glasses and lied to the doctor on what letters I saw on the chart. Luckily I'm not a good liar and the doctor caught on and didn't send me home with glasses!

Way Back Friday!

Here are some pictures of Chevy when we was little. Yes, I took pictures of pictures. I don't have a scanner handy, but just love looking at Chevy when we was little. I think that Ellie looks just like him! What do you think?

Here is Chevy in High School! What a stud and you are still a stud!!!!!! I love you honey and am so proud of all that you are doing right now. Life is really busy, but praying for you!!!!!

Third Pregnancy Story

Our last pregnancy was quite different from the other two. Actually all three ways we found out we were going to have a baby were extremely different. If you remember one was through Invitro and the other was through the birth mother telling us! So our third child we call our unexpected LOVE child. That is she was conceived through natural ways. Wow, we didn't think we could do that?

The story goes like this, our first two were 10 months old and we just moved into our new house. Life was extremely busy with the move and the two babies were walking or lets say running. Chevy had also just started a new job during this transition.

I remember Chevy coming home from work and I asked him how work was as we were bathing the kids and he told me after the first day that he wanted to quit. I told him maybe he should wait and give it some time. (A side note he should of quit that job that day, but didn't because of the new baby). Then I also told him that I might be pregnant! I had some similar feelings from when I was pregnant with our son.

I took that pregnancy test and walked away shaking. Now I have taken probably 15 pregnancy tests and they have all come out negative and I was shocked to see that it was a positive. My first reaction was to cry and Chevy immediately starting jumping up and down. He kept saying that we did it on our own!!!!!!!!

I was crying, because I had two small little ones and I had already felt guilty that with two I couldn't give them my complete attention. I also figured that the kids were going to be 19 months apart and a school year apart. All of that would be difficult.

After the complete shock, we were both extremely excited about our third child, our love child and God gave us the strength to have all three of them!!!

Video Wednesday!

The other night we went to Taco's El Norte, which is one of my favorite places! We found out that our little Ellie likes salsa. We were shocked to see her continue to scoop the salsa in her mouth. She had tears running down her cheeks, but she continued. Now I won't even dip my chips in the salsa, because I don't like hot stuff!

A Difficult Day!

A few weeks ago, I was in class with the children teaching. Side note I teach at a Classical Education school where my kids range in age from 3-6. My two 3 year olds are in my class and it is funny what they call me either, mom, teacher, Miss Somer, or Mrs. Chevrier. The rest of the class mainly calls me Mrs. Chevrier. I just thought that was funny!



Anyways, we were all sitting at the table making snowflakes and one of the kids asked why Avi and Anderson weren't making the snowflake correctly. I explained to him that Avi and Anderson are only 3 and they are just working on the concept of cutting paper.



He then asked me why they were both 3 and if they were twins? I proceeded to tell him that they are our "God Twins." A side note, the little sweet boy asking these questions is 5 years old. I told him Avi is adopted and Anderson came from my tummy and they are 5 days apart.



Then he asked some very difficult questions all at once. Questions that I didn't think that I would need to answer so soon. He asked me, "Why is she adopted?" "Who is her real mom?" "Where did she come from?"



Wow, I was definitely taken a back from all of these very difficult questions. I told him that God gave Avielle to us and that I am her real mom. I also told him that Avi and Anderson were born in Florida.



Avielle was in the room, but she seemed to not be affected by the discussion. Avielle is a smart cookie and she is very observant, but I don't think she quite understands everything yet. Avi does know that she grew in her birth mother's tummy and she has seen pictures of her birth mother.



I know that these will be questions that will come soon from others and from Avi. I love that adoption is more prevalent in this day an age. Both Chevy's sister's are adopted and my sister has just completed her adoption book and is hoping to adopt soon. Our good friends have also just adopted. I think that will help in Avi's growing up years to know others who are adopted. I also know that those who love the Lord have also been adopted by Him. That is the perfect model of God's unconditional love.



Avielle we love you with all of our hearts. You are such a miracle and we love every moment with you. We are excited to see what God has in store for you and how He is going to use your talents!

Our 2nd Good News!

Last week I shared the story of how we found out we were pregnant with our son and today I want to share the story of how we found out about our little Avi! I was pregnant with Anderson for about 3 months and we received a phone call from Ryan's Aunt Dee about a possible adoption.

When we were going through infertility we also decided to put the word out about adoption. Ryan and I have always wanted to adopt so we would welcome the opportunity.

On March of 2006 we received a phone call from Aunt Dee who lives in Florida. It was days before Easter and I was just showing and finally got past my morning sickness.

She gave me information about the birth mother. Avi's birth mother and I talked for hours and really felt a connection. It was just an ordinary day that became an extraordinary day! Ryan and the whole family were so excited about this adoption. We couldn't wait to see God's marvelous plan.

It was quite amazing that these two little ones were conceived two days apart and were born 5 days apart. I thought with the Invitro we would have twins, because they put three eggs inside me, but God had bigger and better plans.

Another verse that I liked to pray, Psam 67:1

"May God be gracious to us and bless us (with a child)

and make his face shine upon us,

that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all the nations."

Thank you Lord for hearing my cries and answering my prayers so abundantly! Next week I will tell you the story of finding out that we were pregnant with our youngest.

Our Valentines Weekend

Ryan and I had a great Valentine's weekend. Since Ryan has been working a lot and that we have three children it is hard to find time for ourselves. This weekend we were able to have that time and had two fun adventures. Saturday night we celebrated our good friend Vince's Birthday. We got all dressed up and went to the casino in Wisconsin. It was a lot of fun, but really smokey! I enjoy spending time with our friends and acting like a kid again!

That night we stayed in Madison at a hotel. My parent's, sister, and brother-in-law all watched the kids. They took turns. Oh, my sister and brother-in-law also took Avi and Anderson to the Auto Show in Chicago for the day! The kids had a lot of fun and Avi now says that her favorite car is the Camaro. Wow, we need to start saving! J/K

On Sunday, we went skiing at Cascade Mountain! It was a chilly day, but the sun was nice and bright. My nose actually got a little burnt!

We had a lot of fun and we were able to eat at two of my favorite places, IHOP and Chipotle! YUM!

All and all, it was a nice little get away and no one got hurt!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Weekend! We have been making a lot of hearts lately and I just wanted to share some cute photos of the kids!

Anderson made an "A" all by himself!!!!

One of the best Valentine's presents is that Anderson wrote "T" and "S" all by himself. I have working with the kids for a while on writing their letters and it really wasn't going the way I had planned. Anderson painted this all by himself without me asking him to write these letters! I'm so proud!

Avielle and Brynn are making Valentine cards for their daddy!

Ellie is putting away our heart stickers!

Miss Brynn is smiling for her picture

I love side profile pictures. I love Ellie's little nose!

Miss Abby cuddling with her mommy

What a smile!

Abby looks so much like Avi when she was a baby. It brings back so many memories!

All the kiddos in their fun letter shirts that their Auntie Barclay made for them for Christmas! Aren't they just so adorable?

Happy Valentine's to all! Chevy and I are so excited to go skiing for Valentine's Day. We both just love to ski and we haven't been skiing since before the oldest two were born. Thanks Grammie and Papa for watching the kids!

A Day to Remember

As I was writing my last post about our Super Bowl parties I was thinking about the party in 2006. That year was a very difficult year for Chevy and I. We were dealing with infertility for the last two years and just went through Invetro for the first time early in Jan. 2006. A few days before I was to get my blood taken to see if I was pregnant I took a pregnancy test, because I was dieing from the anticipation of getting a positive test.

As I was taking the test I noticed that I was spotting. Of coarse Chevy and I were devastated! I cried and cried and cried! That was one of the hardest times in my life. We wanted a baby so badly and we had invested a big amount of money to cover the procedure. Our insurance didn't help us!

Everyone around us was also devastated that I wasn't pregnant. Especially our dear friends who were expecting their first baby soon.

So I spotted a few days before the super bowl party and Chevy and I decided that we weren't going to do anymore fertility treatments and that we were going to adopt. During the party my spirits were better, but I really wasn't hungry for all the yummy food. I thought that was weird, but I thought I had been under a lot of stress and that must be why. I had spotted for a few days and then I stop spotting. I really didn't want to tell anyone that I had stopped spotting, because I wasn't sure what that meant.

The day after the super bowl I went into the doctors for a 6 AM appointment to get my blood drawn. Then I went off to school and they said the doctor's would call me with my results.

During the day my cell phone started to ring and I was teaching. I really didn't want to answer the phone or listen to the message until after school so I wouldn't cry in front of the kids.

Then a little while later I see my husband outside of my classroom crying. I didn't know what was going on! So, he asked me to leave the room which I did and my student teacher took over the class. My husband told me that I was pregnant! The woman from the doctor's office couldn't get a hold of me so she called Chevy to tell him the good news. The funny thing was that Ryan told his boss that I was pregnant and that he was leaving work to go tell me at school. It is funny that my husband told ME that I was pregnant and his boss knew before I knew!

Of coarse we were so excited and everyone in the whole building knew that I was having a baby by the end of the school day. I know that you are supposed to wait after 3 months, but I just couldn't. So many people had been praying for us!!!!!!

I would pray this verse a lot during our infertility:

"O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life..." 1 Samuel 1:11

In my Bible, I have written the days that I found out that I was going to have a baby. They are constant reminders that God has given me miracles and that He heard my cries.

12th Annual Super Bowl Party!

On Sunday we had our 12th annual Super Bowl party! Ryan and I have been having this party before we were married and it has become a tradition ever since. When we were in college 1998 we had our first party with all our college friends. Over time the party and the people have changed, but a lot of them have stayed the same. Over the last few years we have added children to the party mix. We had the party at our house for the last two years, but with the new additions of children we have now gone back to my parent's house to host the party. That is where it all began back in the day.

We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone and catching up. Ryan and I were busy entertaining and getting food ready so we didn't get to watch much of the game. Which really doesn't bother me, because I am not one for watching football. At the end of the party my mom asked me who won and I proceeded to tell her that the Colt's won. Chevy, turned to me and said are you kidding? I actually didn't know that the Saint's won. I'm glad I left the party knowing who won!!!!

Anderson, my son had a blast at the party. Though he was a little crazy with excitement. He spent most of his time down in the basement and I would continue to ask him if he was hungery and he would continue to tell me that he wasn't in a very polite way. My son never turns down food so he must have been having fun. After the party he asked if we would have another party for him? How cute!

Thanks everyone for coming and making it such a fun night!!!!!