1158th Transportation Company

1158th Transportation Company are off. Yesterday was bittersweet. We did get to see Jerod at the Armory for about a half an hour. It was very nice to just be able to talk with him one more time. At 2:30 he had to help pack the buses and we had to go downtown to get a place to stand for the march/parade in the blazing 22 degree weather. I wish I new my video camera better because I got it all on the video. And it was great. So I will just have to tell you about it. As they march down the street the 1st Sgt. Morabito had them halt in front of us. Then they turned left (away from us) and Sg. Millner was commanded to come to the front. At that point he got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. It was so sweet. Oh and she did say yes. We were also told that they would march right to the buses, no family contact. Well after that 1st Sgt. Morabito hollered pull out and we were able to get that one last hug before he left.


Here is a picture of the happy couple...

Sgt. Millner's mom, Sgt Millner & his new bride.

Elly Update

I forgot to update on Elly. We are proud to say that yesterday we officially took all the gates down. We are gate free!!!! Now on to diaper free - close but not yet.

D Day!

So of course, you should not take what the Army says to heart until the time comes and it is finally definate. That is right, they changed their minds again. I think they are almost worse then a woman trying to make up her mind. We are able to see Jerod today. They have opened up the VFW for family members and the soldiers are able to come over from the armory. So that means I will be leaving work even earlier then expected and going up with mom to see Jerod off. I am going to video the march/parade but don't know if I will be able to post it since I think it will to big to put on. The girls at daycare were sweet enough to make us a sign for the march/parade. Thought about taking Elly with but it is during nap time and with the the balmy 24 degrees weather I decided against it. Will post pictures at a later time.

Doing OK!

I am doing ok in the sense that I know that God has everything under control in all aspects of what our path will be for us having another baby.

I am not doing ok with the fact that today is my last day to see Jerod before he leaves for Texas and then on to overseas. Tomorrow the Army is letting the soldiers march through Black River Falls to the buses. We were told last Thursday that we would be able to see the soldiers one last time before they marched. Well yesterday we got the phone call from Jerod saying that word came down the chain of command and there will be no family members at the armory. Therefore, the soldiers were told to do their goodbyes with family members last night and today. Well that really sucks!!!! We are going down to my parents tonight when Harry gets done with work for a meal but still. Have some compassion Army guys. I am still leaving work early tomorrow so that I can go and video tape the march. I think that everything that I have videoed so far for Jerod he will really like.

We purchased our webcam on Tuesday and so we are going to be testing that out tonight with Jerod to make sure it works and then we will be setup and ready to communicate via the web. This should be pretty cool. I am so excited that Jerod will still be able to see Elly grow and he will be able to hear her vocabulary grow daily/weekly. He won't miss out on too much.

Well that is about it for now...just one last thing for all the soldiers in the 32nd Brigade...

We Are So Proud Of Each And Every One Of You! God Bless You And Come Home Safe!

Dr. Visit

I am sure by the title you have figured out that it was either Elly or myself that has been in to see the doctor and then the next question that goes through your mind is what for...well it was me and I went in today to see Dr. Silva, our fertility doctor.

I will be upfront with you right away...I have kept quiet about some things that have been going on lately, but I feel led by the Lord to be open and to let our family and friends in during this difficult time. So I am warning you that I will not be holding back anymore and that we need your thoughts and prayers more then anything now. So you will be hearing a lot about what is going on in the next couple of weeks to months.

Today, Harry & I went in to see Dr. Silva because we have not been able to get pregnant since we had surgery for our ectopic pregnancy in October. We have been on Clomid since December. We had a baseline ultrasound done today to see how things looked. The good news is there is no signs of damage from the ectopic pregnancy. The bad news is that we are thinking that the right tube is closing quicker then we thought. We know the left one is junk as we found that out last summer/fall. Next week on Tuesday, March 3rd I will be going back in for a Sono-Hysterosalpingogram (Sono-HSG). This is an ultrasound of the uterus and fallopian tubes. This procedure shows whether the tubes are open and also outlines the shape of the uterine cavity.* This will take place at 9:00 AM. It is about a half an hour procedure, and I will be fine to drive home afterwards. You might remember me telling about having this done last summer after my 2nd miscarriage. It is pretty simple...maybe a little cramping afterwards.

After this procedure is completed it will answer many questions of where to go from here. If the tube is partially and/or completely blocked then we can do reconstructive surgery on the right tube in a 50/50 chance of conceiving on our own. Otherwise, our options are in vetro fertilization (IVF) and/or adoption. At this point in time we are praying for guidance along with wisdom and knowledge for the doctor as to what path we should go. Reconstructive surgery would be a little more invasive then what I had to have done for the ectopic pregnancy but wouldn't be bad. Would still be a same day surgery. IVF is very pricey and the money is needed up front. Adoption is always another option. One that we have discussed but have not looked any farther at. In the next couple of weeks we will be praying hard for guidance as only the Lord knows the ending to our journey. I am scared and excited as I know that whatever the Lord has planned for us, the ending is going to be GREAT! And we are not going to want to miss the ending.

I will keep you posted as things progress and we get more answers. Thank you in advance to your many thoughts and prayers. I know that we have a wonderful group of friends and many family members that love us and support us. That is huge for us and humbles my heart. We are very blessed to have Elly in our lives along with our love from family & friends.

*Medical description used by the Franciscan Skemp, patient education handout.

Pictures

Uncle Jerod & Elly....Elly was a very tired girl and had just woke up from a very much needed nap.
Uncle Jerod & Maddie...boy was it hard getting a smile out of that girl...she might be ready for the Army!
Mom, Jerod, Dad, Elly & Maddie...I think Elly has one eye open for this picture.
Laurence was dressed and ready for the Army until Jerod said "recroot" and then she decided it was time to be done!
Mom, Jerod & Dad.
Jerod with 1SG Carl J. Morabito
Jerod with Christie Matthews
Jerod with Brandon Millner
JoEllen, Jerod & Jen - we look like we actually love each other in this one doesn't it....Oh we do!
1st Platoon 2nd Squad Leaders

A Very Busy Week

This week was overwhelmingly busy. Every time I would think about blogging something else would come up. And then by the time we got Elly down for the night...I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch. Therefore, I am finally getting around to blogging for this week.

Maddie Update...Maddie is doing GREAT! You would never know that she had a seizure on Sunday. Thank the Lord she is better.

Potty Training Update...well we are getting there....very slowly. We have good and bad days. We seem to do better with pooping then pee pee time. So we will see how that all goes. I am not trying to push her because I feel I will just push her the other way. But there are days I want to just throw my hands up in the air with defeat. But if I do that, I believe it will be harder in the long run. Therefore, we push through each day. It doesn't help that Harry & I are really the only ones doing this and we have no other help. It is very frustrating.

Tuesday mom and I headed to Madison for the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Send-off Ceremony at the Alliant Energy Center. Wow was that cool to see 3,500 soldiers sitting below us ready to head off for war. How very real it was to see and realize that my brother is one of them and it has come time for him to leave us for a year. We are so very proud of him that he is a soldier and that he is serving our country. But really what was he thinking....signing up during a war....doesn't he know that his nieces need him....Thank God we have the technology that we have now these days. Can you imagine back in the day when it was just snail mail? I can't imagine. We still have to go and purchase a webcam but then we will be ready.

Thursday then it was off to Black River Falls for the 1158th Transportation Company Send-off Ceremony. For those of you that this is confusing to - join the club. The 1158th Transportation Company is apart of the Wisconsin National Guard units comprising the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team for this mobilization and deployment. This was great because we were able to meet some of the soldiers and Sergeant's that are in company. Sergeant Morabito told us that Jerod's nickname is "Muscles". What a great compliment. Pictures will come soon!

Jerod will be leaving next Friday for Fort Bliss, Texas for training. We will not see him again for a year unless we travel with mom and dad to send him off for overseas. Harry & I have still not figured out what the best plan of action for our family would be. Jerod will be missed with this upcoming year but he will be in our thoughts, prayers and we will be doing lots of emails and webcam time.

God is Good!

This weekend was full of great, wonderful & scary events.

Saturday - Todd, Laurie, Mikaila, Reece & Naomi came up. Oh the fun we had...the kids loved the barn. That evening Grama & Papa babysat so that the 4 adults could go out to eat. What a treat.

Sunday - We had Jerod's going away party at mom & dad's. What a great turnout. Many family and friends attended. And of course, lots of food. Unfortunately, we had some scary time in there. Maddie (my 4 year old niece) was not feeling well. We were concerned at first that she had gotten into some rat poisoning as the kids had found some while playing hide-and-go-seek. But there was witnesses that she had been trashing in her sleep and she wet herself during this time. We called 911 and within minutes we had an ambulance at my parents house. Maddie was taken to Vernon Memorial in Viroqua immediately. During all this family and friends out in the garage had stopped the party and were praying for Maddie.

After blood test, urine test & CT scan, they found that she had what is called a Febrile Seizure. A Febrile Seizure is preceded by fever in children younger than 5, these seizures can be very brief tonic-clonic type seizures or partial seizures lasting more than 15 minutes. Most children who have a fever-induced seizure never experience a second seizure.* After many hours Maddie was released and sent home. She is on medication to help keep the fever low and is doing great. Family and friends were very gracious in their thoughts & prayers during this time. We are so thankful that it was not anymore serious then what it could have been. God is good to us.

*Medical description by WebMD.com

Happy Valentine's Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I am finally getting around to writing as I have been working all week....yes all week. One of my co-workers (Mary) & good friend was in a bad car accident on Monday going to work. As she is ok and only had some bumps, bruises, 8 stitches around her eye & a really bad black & blue eye...she still wanted to take some time off to relax. So I volunteered to go in on Tues. and help out. Although I was not there all 8 hours it still meant some preparation with sending Elly to daycare, who was going to pick her up and what time. Then Wed. afternoon rolled around and we were behind on some other reports....so again I volunteered to go in on Thurs. I figured this would be all fine and dandy...Elly thought otherwise....I found out Thurs. morning how much Elly likes having mommy home. So it was a very quick trip to work. All in all, it was a good week and I was able to help out tremendously...and Mary was back to work Wed. afternoon.

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POTTY UPDATE: Thursday night Elly went into the bathroom and put the attachment for the potty up on the potty all by herself and told me that she needed to go "poo". This is the first time she has done this. And of course, once on the potty she indeed go "poo". Usually she tells me after the fact. So we are still going in the right direction and as slow as it may seem some days we eventually will see the end of the tunnel.

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WEEKEND NEWS: Today we are being blessed with Uncle Todd (Ta), Auntie Laurie (Orie), Mikaila (Mee Mee), Reece (Bubba) & Naomi's (Nay Nay) arrival to the farm. They will be spending the night and going with us to Jerod's going away party. Tonight Owwy & Papa will be babysitting all the kids so that the 4 adults can have a double date for Valentine's Day! This should be a little interesting as Owwy & Papa are use to watching one child at a time. Elly received from mommy & daddy the DVD Happy Valentine's, Charlie Brown; since she is sooooo in love with uppy. She also go from Lisa uppy stickers, uppy fruit snacks, a very pretty necklace & bracelet. And then she also go in the mail a very pretty dress from Grandmother and she got a dress that matches for her baby doll. WOW! I never knew that Valentine's day was sooo important!

In Her Box

If any of you know Harry, you know that he can sometimes be in his box....meaning when he goes to a restaurant you can bet that he will order one out of three things...well if I had not carried Elly for 9 months I would not think that she is my child as she acts just like her dad. Scary...I know. Yesterday, I thought I would put a headband on her instead of doing the piggytales...well you would have thought that I was cutting off her fingers one at a time the way she threw a fit...and the instant she got that headband off she was like a completely different child.


We are blessed each and every day with having Elly in our lives. But there are some days I believe she feels she has completely failed if she has not taken every thing out of her toybox, books off the bookcase, and all the food out of the pantry. I think she feels this is her way of keeping mommy in shape by running after her and putting things away. We recently took the gate off the office door and therefore it is free access into this room. She loves going in there and taking every book off both bookcases...hmmm...maybe we are not ready for the gate to come down just yet...maybe when she is 18.

Other news...Elly is really getting the potty thing down...she goes if you remind her but if not she has not learned telling mommy yet. So we are saving about 1-4 diapers a day. Not bad for only being 20 months old.

Help Wanted...

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way, none of us would have done it!!!!

Job Description: PARENT

POSITION: Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma and Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Laurence's Surprise Birthday Party

Yesterday Jen & Nick threw Laurence (their foreign exchange student) a surprise birthday party at Pizza Hut in Richland Center. Laurence's birthday is January 13th but she was on "holiday" for 3 weeks. This was very special to Laurence as this is her very first birthday party for herself as she is a twin and usually has to share her day with her sister. We had lots of fun and so did the kids.

All the kids played really well together even with the limited space that we had. Here they are playing ring around the rosie. Elly really enjoyed this.
Laurence was quite surprised and a little embarassed. She did not want to have to come into the room at first but she finally did.
Laurence and her birthday cake. It was also another one of the foreign exchange students birthday too. So they got to celebrate together.
All the kids stood still for one minute to have their picture taken. I will go from back left to front right.....Leah McDonald, Evan McDonald, Nicholas Willing, Alec McDonald, Lauren Willing, Elly Young & Maddie Rogstad. Maddie was a great big cousin and helped Elly out all afternoon.
Jen & Nick invited all the foreign exchange students in Laurence's group. I believe they were all able to come for a little while. There is a lot of them!
And last but not least....Laurence with the two girls!