Baby #2!

It’s happening!!  Baby #2 is on his way and we are thrilled!!  I have looked forward to sharing this news with all of you since the moment we found out we are expecting so the last 8 weeks have dragged by for that reason alone.  The Rowley and Jorgensen homes have been filled with happiness and excitement over this news and we feel so blessed to be where we are.  **There is a long story and a ton of information leading up to where we are now so thankfully I wrote it all down as we went.  If you’re interested in any of it, I will soon be updating the “IVF Journal” tab and there will be a post coming soon that talks about the first 12 weeks of this pregnancy.  If you read both, you may notice some repeating information.**

It’s surreal to think we’re actually here.  Eli passed away just over 18 months ago and at that time it was hard to believe we would ever get to this point again.  After he died I knew that to have another baby we would have a ton of healing to do, a giant IVF process to somehow figure out, and of course feel the desire to have another baby.  It all seemed so daunting but we did it!  And it’s sweeter than I could have possibly imagined.  We haven’t finished healing and never will.  I wouldn’t want to.  The healing process will continue the rest of our lives but I’m okay with that.  We are at a good spot and our hearts are filled with happiness and peace.  Eli has never been closer to us and I know it’s because he’s as joyful about his little brother as we are.  We feel his presence often and cherish it more than anything. 

Going into all of this IVF business Logan and I had made the decision to not learn our embryos’ genders and to just wait and find out the traditional way.  However, as we sat in the waiting room on the day of our transfer, we started talking about this baby-to-be and decided we would like to know its gender.  We agreed to see how we felt when they took us back and if it felt right, we would ask them to tell us.  The experience of hearing the gender was very spiritual and a moment we will never forget.  When the doctor said: “It’s a boy” I totally lost it.  I’m not typically an emotional person in front of other people but I couldn’t control myself and the flood gates opened wide.  We weren’t hoping for a boy and would have been equally as thrilled with a girl, it just made everything so much more real knowing what this baby was.  A girl would have been just as perfect and caused the same reaction, I’m sure, but we also won’t deny that there is something special about having another son after losing Eli.  We couldn’t be more excited and you better believe I’ve already gone through all of Eli’s clothes and shoes and bought many more new ones!

Now for his name!  Austin Michael is what we’ve chosen and we love it more every day :) I’ve mentioned already that we decided on Eli’s name super quick so I was hoping it would be the same this time around.  Logan and I had discussed a couple boy names we both liked before we knew what we were having but when we learned it was a boy, both of those names left the picture for some reason.  I guess they just didn’t fit anymore.  I would think about names quite a bit but one day the name Austin popped into my head and I knew right away that needed to be his name.  Logan really liked it when I told him as well so we were both sold!  As for his middle name, we wanted to stick with a family name and Michael is my younger brother’s name.  We both really liked how Austin Michael sounds together so that sealed the deal!  I’m excited for baby Austin to share his name with such an awesome uncle :)

Medical technology--what a blessed thing!  We’re perfectly aware that the genetic testing performed on our embryos can’t rule out every single health concern but we did accomplish ruling out SCID and that brings us greater peace than you can possibly imagine.  People often tell us that we’ll probably be super protective parents after what we experienced with Eli but I honestly wonder if we’ll be the opposite and think that little Austin will be like Iron Man simply because he has an immune system.  Hopefully we can settle somewhere in the middle :)

Anticipating this baby has been an interesting experience.  In some ways I feel like a veteran mom and in others I feel like a total rookie.  I’m an expert at giving oral meds, changing dressings, and understanding medical jargon but I wonder if I’ll remember how to do normal baby things.  It doesn’t scare me at all like it probably did with Eli, but it definitely makes me wonder what this experience will be like.  What I’m sure Logan and I will be experts on is how to give this baby all the love in the world and in the end I know that’s all that matters.

Lastly, I wish we had the ability to express our gratitude to each one of you for your endless support.  Logan and I have been overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we have received since announcing this pregnancy yesterday. We hope and pray each one of you will feel of our love and gratitude for you. Having so many wonderful people around us is what makes this whole experience so sweet and we are more grateful for you than you’ll ever know.  If you’re curious about something, please feel free to ask.  We are happy to share our story and love having so many people to share it with!

Birthday Fun & Thanksgiving

I had such a great birthday!  At my work we get our birthday off so I was able to sleep in and that was so nice! Logan had school so I spent a lot of the day shopping with my mom.  We had a great time!  We ran a few errands to help her get ready for Thanksgiving and also stopped by two of my favorite stores--Tai Pan and TJ Home Goods.  I found one small Christmas decoration but mostly just had fun looking through everything. Logan got out of class early so that was a fun surprise!  We went to dinner at the same restaurant I choose every year--Tsunami!  The pictures always look the same because I swear we sit in the same place but it's SO worth it!  Tsunami is expensive so we don't go very often but we sure enjoy it when we do.

I love edamame...and Logan :)

Three delicious rolls that we devoured a bit too fast!

I had every intention of taking a picture of our Coconut Glory right when it came but totally forgot because we were too excited to eat it!  It lived up to its expectations :)

I could go on and on about how fabulous dinner was but I think you all get the point :).  After we ate we went to Target since we both love that place.  We looked through just about every section and I was even able to find a cute shirt and a fun jacket.  We didn't want to be out too late since we both had to get up early for work so we spent the rest of the evening hanging out at home and it was perfect.  My family, friends, Logan's family, and especially Logan made my birthday extra special and I'm so grateful for all of them!  As long as I have the people I love by my side then nothing else matters!

Thanksgiving was so much fun!  We were with my family this year and it was so great to have (almost) everyone together.  My mom knocked herself out in order to make this day perfect and it was exactly that!  The food was delicious, the games and prizes were tons of fun and spending the entire day with my family couldn't have been better.  I didn't take a ton of pictures but I did manage a few.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the food before we ate!

Several people had left the table by now but it was full at one point!  There were also three other tables set up for the kids in the other room.

Thanksgiving tradition of playing Monopoly!  I dominated and won a $25 Visa card :)

I already can't wait until two years from now when we get to do it again.  Thank you, mom and dad, for making the day so perfect!

I typically refuse to set Christmas up before Thanksgiving but I was way too excited to get Eli's tree out to wait!  Logan and my parents were such good sports when I asked them the Saturday before Thanksgiving if we could go to the storage unit and get everything out and set up.  It took a lot of the day but I'm so glad we did it when we did!

It looks perfect!

Most of what's on those three shelves was set up as part of Eli's tree display so I'm glad I could find a spot for it in our little home :)

I am so glad we will get to see Eli's tree all set up for an extra week this year!  I'm sure we'll continue that tradition in the future :) Putting our stuff up a week early also allowed me to spend the day after Thanksgiving helping my mom set her Christmas up so that was a lot of fun!  She needed a few things at Taiwan Imports (another favorite store of ours!) so we made a quick pit stop.  This "Kid Zone" kills me every time I go in that place and I'm sure I've posted this picture before but seriously??  I've never seen a kid playing in there and I hope I never do!

I am so excited for Christmas and everything that December has to offer!  My brother and his family are coming for Christmas and will be here in less than three weeks!  We have a lot of fun things planned for the 2ish weeks they're here and I can't wait!  This definitely is the most wonderful time of the year :)

Halloween and a Birthday Dinner!

Halloween is such a fun time of the year!  I love it because it kicks off the holidays and everyone and their kids always seem to have such a good time.  It's fun to see which costumes are popular each year and what kind of clever ideas people come up with.  I love the idea of doing something creative but I never seem to have the energy to put anything together.  We were pretty boring on Halloween night because we just stayed home and hung out with the two of us.  My grandpa wanted help passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters so Logan ran upstairs every time the doorbell rang.  Thankfully it wasn't too often!

The night after Halloween is when we had our annual Halloween party with our friends from high school.  This was our fourth year doing it and, as always, it was a lot of fun!  Three years ago during this party the Andersens announced they were having a baby so we always hold out hope that someone will carry on the tradition.  Unfortunately it didn't happen this year!  I should have been better about getting a picture of each couple but at least we got a group one.  Like a few other couples we saw, Logan and I bought our shirts from Amazon and that's about all we did!  The capes make it a little bit cooler, right?? ;) Thank you, Spencer and Nicole, for hosting!  As always, we can't wait until next year!

My brother, Blake, and his wife, Staci, blessed their little guy, Liam, the Sunday after Halloween.  He looked so handsome and his daddy did a great job!  We had a yummy lunch with a lot of people at my parents' after and it was great to see everyone!  Aunt fail for not getting a picture with or even just of Liam alone!

In my family we always celebrate birthdays monthly and my dad and I share November (4th and 24th).  We did our dinner this past weekend on the 8th before things get too crazy with Thanksgiving.  We have a habit of always going to the same restaurants so we tried to think of somewhere we hadn't gone recently.  I randomly thought of Training Table and it was a hit with everyone!  Aside from Paul and Cheryl, everyone was able to be there and we finished off the night with pie rather than cake and it was perfect!  Thank you, family, for such a great celebration!  **Second fail for not taking a single picture.  I really like taking pictures, I've just been forgetting lately!**

We are getting so excited for Thanksgiving!  I can't believe it is just over two weeks away!  We switch off Thanksgiving every other year and last year we were with Logan's family so this year we're with mine.  It's sad not seeing both families on such a fun holiday but we love being able to spend all day with one family rather than splitting it up.  My mom has been planning some fun things for awhile now so I know it will be great! 

"Tell Me a Miracle"

As my dad got home from work yesterday, he sat down on the couch to tell my mom about his day when she said to him: "Tell me about a miracle you witnessed today."  A little caught off guard, he said he couldn't think of one right away.  They continued to recap their day to each other while my mom began looking for a friend's blog online.  She couldn't remember the exact web address so she was typing random things in Google with the hope that she would come across it.  Not more than one minute later, she found a blog she had never seen before but the title of the blog intrigued her so she clicked on the link.  The link took her to a post from back in June of 2013 so she began to read.  About midway through this fairly long post, the writer quoted George Q. Cannon and my mom immediately thought: "This is my miracle.  I need to read this to Liz."  The quote said: 

"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them.  If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by and by."

Logan and I and our families are doing quite well right now but it's always comforting to hear words like those of George Q. Cannon's.  My mom made a mental note to call me later and tell me about the quote and then continued reading.  Thinking she had already received her miracle by stumbling upon this quote she thought was perfect for me, she wasn't quite prepared for what she read next: 

 "Today was our first day back at the hospital...since four days ago.  We sure do love this place (I wish you could hear the sarcastic tone in my voice).  As we settled into our new room (actually it is our old room 4413- they save it for us!) and got back into our regular hospital routine, I found myself scanning the names on each door.  Looking for friends and wondering about how they came to be here.  So many families, so many children, so many stories.  Then I begin to think about Logan and Liz.  Their name is no longer on the board, they got moved to the second floor.  Little Eli needed some extra attention.  I then hoped that I will see them soon; maybe in the cafeteria, in the laundry room, or down the hall.  My good friends.  Our day drags on with chemo, vomiting, pain meds, rocking in our chair and then more chemo, more vomiting, more pain meds and rocking in our chair some more.  Oh my little girl, hang in there we can do this.  We can do hard things.  Finally she fells asleep, exhausted from it all.  Sweet soft cheeks, sparse, yet long eyelashes, and perfect lips.  Oh how I adore her.

I think of Liz and Logan again.  I hadn't seen them yet.  I was getting ansy.  I had to know how my friends were.  So I pulled up their blog...and wasn't prepared for the news I read.  Sweet baby Eli had received his angel wings last Saturday while we were at the hospital.  My heart broke and I sobbed.  How could I have not known?  We were right there and I wasn't there to help ease their burden. My mind raced back to our month together, right after my baby was diagnosed with cancer.  Liz and I became instant friends.  It wasn't hard to talk to Liz.  She always had a smile on her face.  And even though her baby was in critical condition and struggling to live, she would always ask how we were doing.  She and Logan never complained and never asked why.  Such amazing people. Why them?  Why did their son have to die?  Out of anyone, they deserved to have their child live.  It isn't fair that my child is asleep next to me, stable and well, while they had to walk out of the hospital with empty arms.  My heart aches.  How can this be?  All I know is hug your babies close.  Time is precious.  Going to snuggle with my sleeping angel...and to think and pray.  To Liz, Logan, and amazing Eli you have changed my life forever.  Thank you for all you have taught me.  Sending peace and love your way!"

Sweet Danielle.  I haven't spoken to her since we left the hospital and I somehow never knew she kept a blog.  Danielle is right, we became fast friends.  She was an angel to me during our months in the hospital.  We connected quickly and I loved talking to her.  She exuded great strength that I tried to mimic during our difficult days.  Her sweet princess is in remission now and that brings such happiness to my heart.  I love hearing about these warrior children that are able to make it through.  Eli could have if it was part of God's plan.  It wasn't, obviously, but I'm so glad it was part of God's plan for Evalette to stay here with her family.  **If you're interested in reading that whole post, click HERE.  She talks about our Eli a little bit more at the end.  Follow her daughter's story as well.  They're an amazing family!**

I love that my mom asked for a miracle and was prepared to receive it.  I needed to hear those words and feel so grateful that Heavenly Father was so mindful of that.

Fall Activities

One of my favorite things about Fall is that it brings our family together for various occasions so we get to see everyone often!  During the first weekend of Fall, Logan and I made the drive to Oakley, where his sister's family owns a cabin, for Sunday dinner.  They bought this cabin a few months ago and have been working really hard on it ever since.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the inside but take my word for it--it looks great!

The changing leaves were beautiful!

For some reason this looks like a painting because the trees are all blurred but I loved the colors!

Love this boy of mine!

Don't mind my filthy hand, just take a look at that golden marshmallow!  I don't think I've ever had such success while making a s'more.  

After dinner we were all enjoying the campfire when we noticed the sun hitting our view just right!  Matt and April have an amazing view from their cabin!

Thanks for hosting, Matt and April!

The General Women's Meeting is always a great time because I get to spend such quality time with my mom, sister-in-laws, and niece.  We loved the meeting and then went to CPK after--a favorite of ours.  People always ask me what it's like having five brothers and no sisters and I have two responses at the ready.  1. I never had sisters so I don't know any different and 2. My sister-in-laws are as good as sisters to me so I actually lucked out with five brothers and three amazing sisters! I forgot to take a picture of us but we sure had a great time together!

**Random Happenings**

Work has been super busy for me which is always good because it goes by faster.  After many years in our old space, we finally got a fresh start and moved to a new location that's actually closer to where I live so that's nice.  Change is always a good thing!  Logan is enjoying school and work and we're both excited for conference weekend and the holidays!  I set up a few Fall things around our little basement but I don't have any pictures now so I'll share some in my next post.  Halloween is only a few weeks away and I can't wait because that means we're officially into the holiday season and I love it!

So Long, Summer

It seems like such a cliche, overused statement but I really can't believe Summer is over!  I was so excited for our trip to Europe but knew that Summer would be coming to an end as soon as we got home so it's weird to think we're here.  We soaked up our last couple weekends as much as possible and had tons of fun along the way!  Logan hadn't been to the fair in years and I had never been so we made our inaugural trip to the fair together and had a blast!  Our good friends, the Andersens, met us there and we had such a good time together!  There were so many choices for dinner and we all ended up loving what we had.  It had been ages since I'd had fry bread so I went with that and Logan had a monster turkey leg.  Neither of us felt too great the next morning so I blamed the turkey leg, which Logan tried to refute. 

Logan, Tyler, and Halli also rode the big slide!  Don't mind the blurry photo--my phone clearly doesn't take action shots.

Thanks for such a fun night, Annie, Tyler, Halli, and Hayden!  Until next year!

The following night, a Saturday, we hung out in Park City with some of our great friends, the Neffs and Bjorklunds.  They are the best people to be around!  Anytime we hang out with these four there is constant laughing and some of the best storytelling and discussions.  Before heading to PC we ate dinner at Pei Wei, which is always delicious.  Logan and I were pretty fond of our fortunes as well!

 

Logan was pretty darn excited when he opened his, which is on the bottom!  Haha.

For some dumb reason I don't have another picture for the entire night but it consisted of yummy Cold Stone ice cream, card games, and laughing!  Good times for sure!

Our last big event of the summer was spent in Midway with our high school friends at one of their family's cabins.  I must have had a great time because I didn't take a single picture.  Logan and I left a night before everyone else so we could make it back to our ward on Sunday morning so we tried to get a group shot then but it never happened.  I've posted plenty of pictures of this group in the past so just imagine us in your mind's eye! We always have such a good time with these friends!  Conversation comes easy when many of you have been friends since Kindergarten and the others joined the group in Jr. High or High School.  It can sometimes be hard to make new memories rather than just reminisce on our old ones from 10-15+ years ago.

We drove up to Midway on Friday evening and ate dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant right in town. Everyone seemed to really love what they got and the salsa bar kept us occupied for quite some time.  We came back from dinner and played a big game of Scum for awhile before finally going to bed.  A lot of the group had signed up for the Dirty Dash on Saturday so they took off earlier in the morning for their race and the spectators (me and Logan included) made our way to Soldier Hollow a little later to see them at the finish line. It looked like they had a great time!  Following the Dirty Dash we went back to the cabin for lunch and then hung out in the yard chatting, playing basketball, and throwing the football.  The weather was perfect so we loved just relaxing and enjoying the great company!  Later in the evening we finally made our way back inside to start dinner and then found ourselves outside again playing one of my favorite games--Church Ball.  We played Church Ball (similar to Dodge Ball) nearly every day in the Summer when we were younger on the Andersen's tramp so it was a lot of fun playing again for the first time in years.  *Side Note: I woke up SO sore from jumping on and off the tramp so much.  Pretty pathetic, I know!* After a yummy BBQ for dinner we all gathered around the campfire for s'mores and stories.  I could do that nearly every night and never get sick of it!  By this time it was getting late so Logan and I bid farewell to the group and drove back to Salt Lake. Although the weekend was short and went way too fast, we loved it!  Thanks for such a great time, everyone!

While it's always sad to say goodbye to the warm weather, I absolutely love Fall!  If I had to choose, I would definitely say it's my favorite season.  The cooler weather, pretty colors, and of course holidays are so much fun and put such a happy spirit in the air.  I got our fall decorations out of storage and can't wait to put them up.  I'm trying to hold out for a couple more weeks but it's testing my patience for sure!

So long, Summer!

Meet Pharrell!

No, not Pharrell Williams, whose song 'Happy' became the most played song I remember in a long time.  We're talking about someone(thing) much more exciting!  Say hello to the newest addition to our family: 

Why Pharrell?  It's super lame, I know.  Some of our good friends were recently telling us that they name their cars after the first artist they hear on the radio after they buy the car.  We test drove this car and a Brad Paisley song came on but Logan didn't like Brad or Paisley and said he should get to wait until we actually bought the car.  I'm pretty sure he wishes he wouldn't have waited!  As soon as he heard "Happy" on the radio he was like: "Are you kidding me?!"  Haha...gotta love it!

We were hoping we wouldn't be in the market for a new car for another year or so but Logan's trusty 2001 Kia Optima started spitting flames out the tailpipe and the cost of repairs was going to be more than the car was worth so we decided to give in and replace it.  Our good friends over at Murdock Hyundai took great care of us and we ended up getting a sweet deal on this 2011 Chevy Cruze.  Our biggest concern was the amount of miles on whichever car we got because we knew we'd want to drive it as long as possible and this one only had 42,000.  The interior and exterior look brand new, the windows are tinted, and Logan's favorite part: It's a stick.  The stick will be great because Logan will love it and it will get better gas mileage but I have no clue how to drive it so I guess we need to take care of that!  I don't have much of a desire to learn but it seems real dumb to own a car that I can't even drive.  Logan tried teaching me in high school but I killed it a million times before giving up.  Hopefully I have better luck this time around!

Logan has never owned a car this nice that he drove and is always telling me to take the nicer things when there's an option so I couldn't be happier he's so in love!  Enjoy your new man crush, babe!