Our house = Romper Room

We are hosting my sister E and her brood tonight, as they are out on their first midwestern roadtrip since nephew I was born in January. The last time they visited was last fall (b4 I's arrival), see pic here. I somehow didn't get any pics when we were up in February, I think I may have forgotten my camera... Will definitely get some cute new pics up soon.

Her kids are nephew B (38 months), niece N (16 mos.), and nephew I (3 mos.) We'll be heading back up to WI the first weekend in May for I's baptism. Conveniently S will be away teaching a class at UIC tonight. There is definitely some Veggie Tales in my near future... ;)

Making Decisions

So hopefully the above is what's happening right now and we'll be blessed with a January 2011 baby, but given the last year and a half we are making decisions about how we want to proceed if this once again does not come to pass. After these 19 months, we know little more than when we started about why we are where we are.

Well, we do know that S's sperm is fine and that after two surgeries, my uterus is all clear and available for occupancy. My blood tests and exams indicate that I am ovulating, my tubes are open, and I've always gotten AF at regular intervals. What we don't know if why we are not getting pregnant.

So this leads us to the decision to pursue IVF. We are moving forward early this summer if we are not yet pregnant. This is at the same time terrifying and reassuring (how often does that happen?). I'm hoping for a baby (by 35, preferably), but I guess even some answers would be a huge accomplishment at this point. We have insurance coverage for one cycle and then we will be OOP.

But I don't know yet who will be doing my procedures. My current RE is nice, but we've had several instances where she and her nurse were less than helpful, to be kind (detailed here and here). And while the office I see her at is convenient, FCI's IVF centers are not. They are in HP and the city. My previous RE is very convenient (i.e. across the street from my office), but given her indifference about my septum, I don't know that I feel comfortable going back to see her. There are several other clinics in the area, but they will need to be interviewed.

So there will be much more to come, but we've finally made the decision...

Nantucket morning

Nantucket harbor-July 2009
Happy Patriot's Day!

Finallys, finallies?

Antiques & Garden Fair

So it's finally Friday. I think this may have been one of the longest weeks ever. Work is really slow, so I've been exploring the blogosphere... Lots of great design stuff out there. S is home today, as he does flex hours to have every other Friday off. Besides hanging my painting and curtains, he says he'll be day trading. :| There is nothing worse than having to come to work when he is at home. :(

My temps are up. I. am. finally. ovulating. Probably tomorrow, actually. So like my wacky sleep patterns, (if I get up at 4am one morning for an early flight, I get up at 4am for the next hundred mornings), I'm thinking am now ovulating after three weeks (instead of my normal 17 days) because of those three weeks of high dose estrogen I was on in Feb. And then my luteal phase is still the super predictable 12 days. Wonder how long this will last. The good news is that means I won't be getting AF next Saturday at our black tie event. But I also won't be drinking anything at the open bar... Hope you all have a great weekend! :-)

Looking for light

Williams Sonoma Home-Crisscross Hurricane

I probably don't need to buy any more candle holders, but here is just one.last.one. I think I'll put it in the family room.

Recent additions to the living room...

Arhaus broken glass candle holder
and

Z Gallerie Casablanca lantern

I.love.this.magazine.

The April/May issue is finally here! It's Green! Enjoy!

Lonny Mag Issue #4

My faux snake skin tray from Jayson is featured twice! On pages 83 & 167. Their source is Global Table, and I think this was originally featured in Domino (back in the day...)
Here it is from I Suwannee, as Lonny wasn't letting me grab photos. I think everyone has one of these now...



Oh and the Pratesi chain link duvets/shams on 113 & 143 look just like my new ones, except mine are from the BB&B clearance section. ;) I guess I should have figured they were a knock off of something spectacularly expensive (my taste...) As in ~$2K for a king duvet cover and two euro shams vs. my steal of <$60 (incl BB&B coupons, of course). Wow!

It's only Tuesday...

And I'm already thinking about the weekend... Not a good sign, huh? It is supposed to be in the 80's the next few days and then cool down for the weekend. Perfect for the Antiques and Garden Fair at the Botanic Garden. One of my favorite events at one of my favorite places. I can't wait!
Chicago Botanic Garden

S is away at Toastmasters tonight, so I'm thinking of checking out Glee. I typically avoid shows that have anything to do w/high school, so we'll see how it goes. ;)

We finally got our taxes done. I am so done with our accountant, what a heel. I end up doing most of the work myself, since he apparently doesn't know what he's doing. Good news is we ended up owing about half of what we originally thought we would. Yay for positive business revenue so we could take our start-up write-offs from last year!