Fill In the Blanks and My New Love

Hooray for the weekend! Hopefully you all are just as happy as I am that its Friday!! I have been enjoying a wonderful day with Husband today, but we came home to rest and cool off for a bit (its 100+ outside today!) so I decided to get a post in. I always enjoy doing these link up things (Top 2 Tuesday, Fill in the Blank, etc) because I think they are the perfect way to get to know everyone better. So here are my answers for this week's Fill In the Blank Friday.........

1. The last thing I do before going to sleep is: say "I love you" to Husband- seriously, we do that every night!

2. When I cant sleep I: watch tv

3. The first thing I do when I wake up is: go to the bathroom- I know, TMI, but its the first thing I do!

4. My dream bedroom would be: hmm.....Im dying to re do our bedroom in grays and slate blue so I guess any bedroom in these colors.

5. If I could wake up anywhere tomorrow it would be: on a cruise ship! I have been getting anxious lately to go on another cruise! Im really starting to miss the Caribbean......

6. The longest sleep I've ever had was: I dont remember when, but Im pretty sure one time I slept for over 12 hours- our dogs dont let us do this anymore :( They always wake us up by 8 or 9 am.

7. I sleep on my: stomach, but according to Husband I roll all over the place while I am sleeping! Sometimes I will wake up and be on the opposite side of the bed than where I started- I will always ask Husband what happened and he always responds "you were moving too much so I had to get up and switch sides"

8. When I sleep I like to wear: normally a tank or t-shirt of some sort and cute undies

9. My bedtime is usually: 10 pm if I have work the next morning, later if I dont

Ok, that was fun! Now before I finish, I will leave you with this:

This is the new love in my life- my Henri Bendel bag that Husband FINALLY let me buy! I had to drag him along on a 1 hour drive today because there is only 1 of their stores in our area and its all the way in downtown Dallas. Husband was actually pretty good about the whole thing- he only complained a couple times and afterwards he said it was worth it because of how happy I was! He is the best!

--Cait

Let Me Tell You About......

.......one of my besties- Taylor from The Undomestic Momma. She had included me in her post today, so I figured what better time than now to write about her!

First of all, she is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet! Her and her hubs are both the kind of people that are just "good people". They are always the first ones to lend a hand anytime Husband and I need help with ANYTHING! Of course, it helps that we only live 1 street away from each other, but I think even if we lived 1 state away from each other that wouldnt stop either of them from offering to be there when we need them. And I love that we spend our times together just hanging out at home. Husband and I always go over to their house to have game night or watch the newest reality tv obsession and it gives us a chance to just enjoy each other's company :)

Second, she has been a big help with everything we have been going through lately. HUGE! I can always let off some steam with her and I dont hide how much I am struggling with the whole "baby issue" from her. She has had some struggles of her own too (which I will not go into here), so it's nice to know that she is able to understand where my frustrations are coming from- although it would be even more nice if her and I both could have lots of babies without any issues stopping us!

Third, she has THE CUTEST DAUGHTER EVER. PERIOD! Seriously, Husband and I both cannot get over how adorable she is- and she has the best personality!

Now if this does not have you running to her blog already, guess what!?! She gives away tons of free stuff on her blog too! Honestly, I know most of you probably already follow her blog, but if you don't you should definitely stop by!

**On a completely seperate note: I am very excited for this upcoming weekend! Husband and I are spending the day together tomorrow (and seeing his parents for lunch too!). Husband has indicated that I can shop some also, which I am thrilled about! And Sunday, my family is having a get together! You know what this means- pictures are coming your way!

Happy Friday to everyone!

--Cait

Top 2 Tuesday and Bunco Pics!

The topic for today at Taylor's Top 2 Tuesday is Favorite Cologne/Perfume. I have a slight case of eczema that flares up whenever I use scented things, so I hardly ever get to use perfume anymore. I normally have to stick to Dove soap and occasionally can wear a "fresh smelling" spray :( So, in order to still play along, I have listed Husband's top 2 favorite colognes- because he normally smells great!

1) This one is by far my favorite for him!

2) Another great one that I love for Husband to wear!

Bunco night was a blast! Maybe it was just the company I was with, but I really enjoyed myself Friday night! Add in some margaritas and mojitos and you have the making of a perfect evening :)
Here are just a couple of pics from that night........

Love all of these girls! They have all been so helpful with everything I have gone through and I know that I could turn to any of them at any moment to "just vent". I am already looking forward to our next game night.....

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

--Cait

Blogger Award and Temporary Design

Wow! I received another blogger award! And you know what makes this blog award even more special?? It was given to me by another Cait! How cool is that!?!?

If you havent already, you should check out Cait's blog here. I love reading her blog because she is always fun, sweet, and SHES GETTING MARRIED! I cant wait to see what her big day looks like- but for now I love reading along as she puts it all together!

This award comes along with these two questions:

1)Why did you start blogging? By now I am sure most of you already know, but the purpose of this blog is to write about our journey through infertility (and hopefully to continue once we have Baby Hill). I had several people encourage me to start one and I am so very happy that I listened to them! Blogging has helped me so much with everything we have been through in the last 2 months and I am so lucky to meet such wonderful people every day through this blog.

2)What are your blogging rules? The only main one that comes to mind is: BE OPEN AND HONEST! Husband and I decided from the very beginning that we would share our journey with those around us because most people we know have not experienced these type of struggles. We thought it would be a great way to bring light to the issue of Infertility and in return we have received so much support! The other part of that rule is honesty: I really wanted this blog to be a true reflection of myself. Whatever you guys read on here are my true feelings and thoughts- hopefully you all like me for the "true me" :)

Now the hard part........I have chosen to pass this award along to these ladies:

1) Lori at Bringing Up Brooke

2)Mrs B at Life with the Bruneaus

3)Hilary at The Tale of This Newlywed - she has been going through some rough times lately and I am so sad that she may be taking a hiatus for a bit :(

**One last thing, you may notice that my blog looks different- this is just a temporary design until the custom one is up. Hopefully I wont have any other "design surprises" like earlier this week!

--Cait

Now I remember......

.......how much I hated taking birth control the very first month I started it! The pill and I are NOT friends! Whenever I take it for the first time (or in this case after a loooong break) I am miserable with constant nausea. I've been up since 4 am (on my day off!) because of it and was unable to eat anything for breakfast. Hopefully this will go away within the next couple of days, but as Husband has pointed out- its great practice for whenever I finally get preggers!

On that note, Husband is taking me out to lunch because I am in need of some major greasy food to fix this!

And for tonight's festivities: BUNCO NIGHT! I have no earthly idea how to play (I actually thought it was a card game, but was later told that I was way off and it is in fact a dice game), but regardless it is going to be loads of fun! Great girls, great drinks, great food and great fun! I am sure I will have plenty of pics to share later :)

Happy Weekend!

--Cait

Stupid Blog Design......

This week is just not my week! I logged on this morning to find a nice little icon at the top corner of my blog stating that my blog design would be pulled on friday- this came out of nowhere! Soooo.....since I didn't really have time to prepare, my blog is going to look horrible for a little while- sorry :(

This did prompt me though to do something I had been thinking of doing for a while now.......get a custom blog design. I got a free one in the beginning because honestly I wasn't too sure how I would take to this whole blogging thing and seeing how I have quit many hobbies before in life, I wasn't too sure how long this blogging hobby would last. Recently I had been thinking about contacting a designer, but was wanting to put it off until I reached another big milestone- 100 followers! Wouldn't that have been the most exciting way to celebrate?

Anyways, whatever I end up with, I want it to be amazing! This blog has been such a great outlet for me with everything that has happened lately and all of you have become so important in my life. That means it may take me a bit to get the perfect design up......so please hang in there with me! I have already contacted some designers so hopefully I can get all of this going soon!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!

--Cait

Not the news we were hoping for.....

Due to the content in part of this post, I have decided to finish the post with Top 2 Tuesday, rather than start with it- I figured it would be better to end on a fun note! If for some random reason you are only wanting to read this post for Top 2 Tuesday, feel free to scroll down a bit.......

As I mentioned before, today was the day of our ultrasound to see if all those injections I did last week paid off. Husband picked me up from work this morning so that we could rush over to our appointment- only to find out they were running very behind at my fertility office. Here is the before picture (while we were waiting for the assistant to come in 40 minutes past our appointment time!)This is my nervous look......

Now for the news: we did not have any change with the Clomid and Injections :( My follicles (on my ovaries) were not measuring anywhere near large enough to indicate that any eggs were ready. Which means this month was a big, fat bust! So what happens next? We move forward with DAILY injectionables now- not something I am looking forward to! Husband and I are going in for a consultation once again on Friday to get a new game plan together to increase my dosage and start "dailies"- and this time we are going to completely rule out Clomid- since apparently Clomid is like candy to me and does absolutely nothing!

This news was hard for me- I mean really hard. With each month that passes and we receive the bad news, I worry more and more that maybe this will not happen for us. Luckily, I work with the most amazing people ever! I had to return to work after the appointment- which turned out to actually be a good thing because it distracted me- and I was given nothing but unconditional support from all of my co workers. I also know that I have the most wonderful family and friends (blogger friends, too!) and cannot express to everyone how much your support really does help! Of course, I will continue to update you all as I learn more about what our next step will be- but in the meantime I will be starting a birth control pack (weird, I know) to try to "restart" my hormones.

**Brutally Honest Moment Here- The song "Fix You" by Coldplay has been my go-to song today and it definitely helped to come home, turn it up and cry a little by myself before Husband came home. It was so nice to get some of the emotions out that had been bottled up inside all day.



Ok, enough sad stuff.........on to the fun part of my post- TOP 2 TUESDAY!
Todays topic over at The Undomestic Momma is Top 2 things you would like to purchase- what the perfect topic to put me in a better mood!

1) This purse by my new love- Henri Bendel

I am actually very excited because I think this dream purchase will become a reality sometime this week! With everything that has been going on (especially after today) Husband has given in to me splurging for a new purse! Last year I bought a beautiful Kate Spade bag- now, this year I am obsessed with this one! Hopefully I will have real-life pictures of it to share soon!

2) This beautiful car........

Husband and I have been debating back and forth on one for a couple months now. Due to his new job (we still dont know exactly what he will be making) and the constant $ required for treatments we have had to hold off for a little, but hopefully this one will become a reality before the end of the year too!

One last thing, I have not had time to sit down and read everyones blogs since Friday! I feel horrible about it and am dying to know what is going on in all of your lives! I 100% plan to catch up on Wednesday and will probably spend hours reading what everyone has been up to- but in the meantime, Im very sorry!

--Cait

"Quickie" in the car

Wait! Before you jump to conclusions, it is NOT what you think........

So by now you all know that I am taking injectionables as part of my fertility treatment, right? What you may not know is that they have to be taken at a very precise time each evening (giving us only a small window of opportunity to drop what we are doing). This became a bit of a problem for Husband and I Friday evening as we were trying to enjoy a "date night". We were attempting to have a nice romantic dinner and be back home in time to do my injection, but due to a long wait at the restaurant, I quickly realized we would not be home in time. Luckily, I had brought everything for my injection in case we had to do it before we returned to the house.

In a very awkward conversation, I explained to the hostess that Husband and I were going to run out to the car and asked for her to hold our table. Of course she looked at me as if I was crazy! So to avoid any further weird looks I explained the situation to her (I have to take shots at a certain time each night) and she very kindly agreed to hold our table. Husband and I rushed out to our car, I had to lay in the backseat and Husband quickly gave me my "shot".

From there I can only imagine what went through people's heads as in the middle of a VERY BUSY parking lot, Husband and I left the backseat of a car, with me pulling my top into place! I was very embarassed, but what else was I going to do? I was definitely not going to waste this whole month's worth of treatment just because of a long wait at a restaurant!

I guess this will just be another interesting story to look back on once this is all over!

--Cait

THE sale of the year!

First off, thank you all for the very sweet messages! While Husband and I would never have wanted to go through all these obstacles to make Baby Hill, it has been so much easier to go through it with the support of all my blogger friends! :) We are taking it a day at a time and trying to not get our hopes up too much (in case we are let down once again). Tonight will be injection #2 and I am sure I will have a pic or two to post later!

On the other hand, I am sorry this is such a short uneventful Friday post, BUT I will be spending my day here.........

So hopefully you all understand!

--Cait

1st Injection!

Today is the day we have been waiting for in the Hill house- the day of my very first injection! I am relieved to say everything went smoothly (for the most part- there was a mis-hap when I was putting together the injection cartridge, but no biggie!) and I feel much more relaxed knowing the first one is done and it will be easier from here on out. I could tell Husband was very nervous about making sure everything went PERFECTLY- he asked probably a bizillion questions and watched my every move as I put everything together and re read instructions several times.

Today was also Day 3 of my treatment! Notice one of my puppies is in the background watching his "momma"

Very nervous about doing this......

My Enemy! Although I must say this is a very small needle! I normally have no problems with shots, but for some reason I could feel this one. I think my mind was just playing tricks on me because of how nervous I was!

Husband at work! I am going to throw this out there....I ate dinner right before to have some extra "cushion" on my stomach for the injection! :)

All Done!

So glad we have now started! Just several more days of treatment and then I will go in for another ultrasound Monday to see if all of this has worked- its going to be a VERY long weekend counting down until Monday morning!

--Cait

Top 2, Treatment and Husband in the Kitchen!

Wow, I have a lot to share with you all in my post today!

First things first, lets start with Top 2 Tuesday over at The Undomestic Momma ! This weeks topic is Top 2 Summer Recipes!

While I thought this was a great topic, I totally cheated- because lets face it: I am not a great cook. I am not creative in the kitchen and I have the world's pickiest eater for a husband so those two things combined do NOT equal fun meals in the Hill household!! And while I am sure many of you are thinking "Really? You have the world's pickiest eater? Not likely!", let me leave you with this: Husband does NOT like the following:
any vegetables- with the exception of corn and ICEBERG salad
any fruits- there is not an exception on this one!
anything "fancy"
anything potato related unless it is french fries- no baked or mashed
and he is very weird about the "texture" of his food
Yes, this is how much I love Husband! And I love trying new foods so there are quite a bit of arguments over this topic! BUT, I will say Husband has been trying VERY hard lately to step outside of his box and branch out a little!

So with all that said- my two picks are things that I make year round (not just during the summer)- please forgive me!

1) Ginger Dressing
This one is actually Husband approved!! Even though there are probably 10 different items in the recipe that Husband would never eat outside of this dressing!


1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 TBSP rice wine vinegar
1 TBSP water
1 TBSP chopped ginger
1 TBSP chopped celery
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in blender or food processer. Process until smooth then serve cold over salad.

2) Spinach Artichoke Dip
This one is NOT Husband approved- but, again, I am pretty limited. This recipe is by far my favorite of all the ones I have tried in the past for this dish!

1 cup thawed chopped frozen spinach
1 1/2 cups thawed chopped frozen artichoke hearts
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Boil spinach and artichoke in 1 cup of water until tender; drain. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute. Stir in all ingredients and pour into baking dish. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Yum!! I found this recipe on Food Network :)

-------------------------------------------
Now onto my next topic- I started some of my treatment today! I have officially started Clomid (again) so today is Day 1!

I thought it might be fun to take pictures each day through this process so below you will find my "Day 1 picture"- please ignore that I look silly in this pic- Husband was the photographer and thought it would be hilarious to yell out random things such as "Work It Baby!"- needless to say, I was laughing quite a bit! (Also, you cannot really tell, but the necklace I am wearing in the picture is my "believe" necklace that I had made- I have had some requests to post a picture of it, but cannot get a good one! They always turn out blurry! But it looks exactly like the one in the picture I posted before)


Stay tuned for more!

---------------------------------------------

Finally, I thought I would leave you with a good laugh........

As I pulled out things to prepare dinner tonight, 1 of the items I removed from the fridge was eggs. (Side note: Husband has always been obsessed with the Hibachi cooks anytime we go and eat at one of those types of restaurants! He is dying to be able to do all of the cool tricks they do with knives, food, etc!) So as Husband is standing in the kitchen watching me put things together, he decides that it is time for him to try his hand at becomming a Hibachi chef! He wants to start by learnig the trick where they roll the egg on the table then flip it in the air with a spatula and have the egg land down on the spatula in the exact perfect position to where it neatly cracks open the egg on the tabletop below. You can already see where this is going, cant you?
Here is his prep- the spinning of the egg:

Now time to flip the egg in the air with a spatula:

At this point the egg is nearly hitting our ceiling (notice how he threw it so high it is nowhere in the shot!)

And here was our final result:

Husband attempted a couple more times and I can say very confidently, after we had gone through several more eggs, that Husband will not be a Hibachi chef anytime soon!

--Cait

WOW 5-0!!!

You guys are awesome! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

--Cait

Fill In the Blank Friday!

After wandering around some blogs today, I saw this and thought it might be a fun post for today- since I am STILL stuck on the couch being sick :(

Lauren over at The Little Things We Do hosts this every Friday!

1. My favorite thing about this week has been: going to have another sonogram this morning and learning that I have been given the all clear to start my treatment on Monday!

2. The weather this week has been: DISGUSTING!!! Every day it has either been raining or very, very humid! All you have to do is walk outside and you instantly feel sticky- yuck!

3. The last (interesting) item I received in the mail was: my necklace that I ordered! (you know, the one I blogged about on my top 2 favorite purchases?) It just arrived in the mail today and I already have it on :)

4. The last movie I saw was: Eclipse!! I went to go see it last weekend with some friends and let me tell you it was AMAZING!!

5. If I could be doing anything I felt like today I would: do anything that does not require laying on my couch any longer. Maybe some shopping, perhaps?? :)

6. As a teenager I was: very confused! I had no idea who the true "me" was and spent many years wandering aimlessly from different groups of friends to figure out where I fit best. Luckily, I meet Husband when I was 17 and he helped me find "me"

7. I wish I could trade lives for the day with: anyone who is not sick! just kidding........probably any celebrity that has an amazing wardrobe (there are so many!)


There are my Fill in the Blank Friday results! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend- and I hope I am back to my normal self soon! Thank you for all the get well wishes!

--Cait

My Very First.......

........BLOGGER AWARD!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!! Now that I have finally stopped jumping up and down with excitement and I have had a moment to catch my breath, I can actually sit down and let you guys know just how freaking excited and honored I am! This is my very first Blog Award and it was presented to me by Ashley from My Carnival Ride! Please go check out her blog if you haven't already because she is now my newest blogger best friend! :)

I still cannot get over how lucky I am to have all of you! Every day or so I sit down and ramble about random happenings in my life and you all still continue to come back and leave wonderful comments on my page!

Now on to the award stuff.......

Rule #1: List 7 facts about yourself

1) I live by my daily planner! I have briefly mentioned before that I like to have everything planned- and I really do mean everything!

2) Dance was my hobby throughout my entire childhood. I was in dance classes, on competition teams and went to numerous recitals for over 1o years of my life! I now miss it very much.......

3) I am addicted to caffeine- in the form of coffee and iced tea (not sodas!).... I have to have a cup of either every morning to start my day. I still havent determined how I will cut this addiction if I ever get preggers :(

4) I am one of the few people that actually LOVES their job! I havent talked about my job before on this blog, but I work in a dentist's office. I originally started the job because of the shorter hours and flexibility (this was after leaving my fast paced career at Nordstrom). Little did I know that it would turn into the perfect fit for me! I work with the most amazing people and in them I have found a 2nd family!

5) I still get scared of the dark. Any time Husband is not home at night I have to fall asleep with the tv or some kind of light on- and I hardly get any sleep because I worry about every little sound that I hear.

6) I love everything that is pink! It is my favorite color and really shows that I am definitely a "girly-girl"

7) I AM NOT a fan of chocolate! (I can hear all of you gasping when you read this one!) I am Team Vanilla all the way!! Husband knows better than to ever surprise me with a box of chocolates- instead he should bring me some Cookies N Cream or Butterfinger ice cream!

Rule #2: Nominate new blogs that you love!

This part was really too hard for me- I mean how do I choose?? So instead of picking just a couple.......I have chosen everyone on my must read list! Please go to my side bar for a list of all my favorite blogs and if you come across one you haven't seen before- Click On It!!

Again, thank you for all the support!!

-- Cait

Sick, Sick, Sick

Ugh! I am a hot mess right now! My throat feels like its on fire, I'm all ache-y, and very, very tired. All of this started yesterday, right before Husband and I were supposed to have a fun day at the waterpark today :( Now instead of the enjoying the fun day I had planned, I am cooped up in the house catching up on these:

Husband has done a somewhat decent job of trying to take care of me today (but I think he is still secretly pouting that I ruined our day together)

I am very sorry to say I do not have an exciting post planned for today- feeling like this, the most exciting part of my day today is going to be when Husband and I make an ice cream run this evening. For the time being, I am pretty much a couch potato!

Hope you all are having a better Wednesday than I am!

--Cait

One Month Later and Top 2 Tuesday!

This weeks Top 2 Tuesday is..........



Top 2 Favorite Purchases Made This Year!

You would think with all the shopping I do this would be really easy or that I would be able to come up with too many to list, but I am actually struggling with this one. As I sit here trying to rack my brain for 2 items to post about, I have realized that I have not shopped enough this year! (shocking, I know) I was trying to think of 2 big purchases that we have made this year and I am completely drawing a blank! Everything that I can think of that I love was purchased last year! Do you think I could use this as an excuse to persuade Husband to let me do some more shopping??

With that being said, here are my top 2 (bear with me, one is a little cheesy and the other I haven't even received yet!)

1) Husband's College Degree

Yes, a degree is a 4 year (or longer) process, but this spring Husband finished his final semester of school for his Bachelors of Business- Marketing degree. I am so relieved that with a lot of hard savings we were able to get all of his schooling completely paid off! It is such a huge weight off of our shoulders to know that we no longer have to worry about this extra expense (especially if we end up having a baby on the way soon!).

2) My 2nd top pick is an item that I haven't even received yet (I actually just bought it today!), but I already know it will be my favorite purchase of the year!........

I wish I could take credit for this wonderful idea, but I actually stole it from a fellow blogger, Ashley at For The Love of Shoes and a Baby Too. She had posted pictures of her wearing a similar necklace to all doctors appointments and I fell in love with the idea! I had been wanting to find something as a token of our journey and when I found this necklace I knew it was perfect! I am hoping it arrives soon since I have quite a few doctors appointments lined up over the next several weeks and I would love to have it as we begin treatment with injectionables.

On a seperate note, I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to all of my followers for all of your support so far! I cannot believe that only a month ago I started this blog with hopes of venting some of our frustrations and other emotions while enduring this long journey towards Baby Hill. All of your positive feedback and kind words continue to astound me every day and I am so grateful for all of you! It has been so encouraging to read stories of other people who have experienced very similar journeys and have come out on the other side! While Husband and I may still not have the news we are wanting, we know it will happen for us soon and we have all of you to thank for reminding us of that.

I look forward to what the next however many months will bring- and am very anxious to get to the big 5-0 for followers (hint, hint!) :)

--Cait

Happy 4th Everyone!

Whoa! I have been a bad blogger lately (which I am very sorry for!), but in my defense, I was trying to enjoy a long holiday weekend with Husband before he begins working weekends once again :(

To celebrate our last weekend together (for a while at least), Husband and I planned a "fun date day" yesterday. We started off our morning with a wonderful brunch at a restaurant we had been dying to try for a while now (and by "we" I really mean "I"). Husband is usually NOT a fan of brunch, but it was so nice to enjoy some coffee, pastries, and other delicious foods together on a Saturday morning- instead of what we normally do: sleep in until the dogs wake us up.

Brunch was followed by some shopping (of course) and then we were headed off to the zoo!! Before we left the house, though, I had Husband take a picture of me in my "safari shorts" as I kept calling them:

The Dallas Zoo!

How Cute!

Today was a lazy holiday for us- Husband requested that we have a more relaxing day- so we enjoyed taking the dogs out to play frisbee, going on a long walk, and being lazy on the couch.

Hope everyone is enjoying a long weekend as well!!

--Cait