Anderson Family Reunion 2010

And now a series of collages, (because I just downloaded Picasa for the first time).

Another awesome trip is over, lucky we can console ourselves by packing for Hawaii tomorrow :)
 I am so spoiled.

Potty Training is all about Peer Pressure

So last you heard Lucy had stubbornly refused to go on the potty.  In the back of my mind I thought I'd try bringing out the panties again after our adventures this month (although on second thought, potty training on IVF hormones would be pretty crazy-I hear your emotions are a bit...heightened.) Anyway, there will be no need! As I had hoped, Camille took Lucy under her wing and showed her the joys of going potty and being a big girl. Camille talked to her about it once I guess and reported to her mom that Lucy simply said she "didn't want to go in the potty". On the last day of their stay Lucy saw Camille's Snow White panties and wanted to match-so we threw hers on too.  Then as they were leaving for the airport all the kids took turns using the bathroom before their trip-Lucy waited until everyone else had gone-then took her turn too-and she did it! We're two days in panties now with NO ACCIDENTS! That is such a complete turn around from our first try that I am astounded. This time around is so nice because I don't even feel like we're potty training-we did the hard part before and now shes got it and life can go on. In other news, Becca comes to town today in preparation for our Anderson reunion this week. We can't wait to see her and her cute tummy.

Leinfam Reunion

We have spent the week being decadent (one of my Grandma Joyce's favorite words.) On Friday everyone came to town in anticipation of Bryce's return on Saturday.  It was incredibly exciting picking him up at the airport-all 16 of us with our noses to the glass waiting for a cute boy in a suit to come out of the gate.

The next few days were really fun as the cousins played together and the adults surrounded Bryce and enjoyed his stories and funny pronunciation.  On Monday we had family pictures taken by Denae.  I think I've mentioned how extremely excited I was about this.  Of course it was as hectic as expected. The M&M bribery usually works with Lucy and she was a bit indifferent this time around (Becca wasn't there counting the candies she had earned like last time) but she looked adorable.  After packing up the cars we drove down to our cute ranch house, inland from San Luis Obispo. It was huge with plenty of room for all of us and 124 acres to explore. We lounged at the pool, played ping pong in the barn and red books on the deck. We ate excessive amounts of cherry coke, vanilla oreos and Dove ice cream bars.  It was bliss. My favorite part was watching Lucy play with her cousins. They all play well together but there the older kids and the younger ones do split off a bit. Lucy is part of the younger group (Camille, Lucy and Bennett). It was so cute to see them play together. Grandma brought two full tubs of nerf guns so most of the time I was cocking guns for Bennett and Lucy so they could compete with the big boys. The kids also ran around finding lizards, frogs and snakes. I'm glad there are fun uncles and aunts who support those endeavors and I don't have to participate in any way:)

Our theme this year was Don't Stop Believin' (GLEE). Notice the cute shirts we designed. It was a fun theme-easy to merge with the spiritual after a year like ours-but still fun to sing:) Now we're recovering from our relaxing trip and getting ready for the next reunion-yeah vacation month!

Hopes

Those of you who have read this blog for awhile know that I'm a girl with a plan.  I can be flexible with my daily agenda, but I like to know what to expect each day and down the road.  Cancer really threw me. With an ambiguous future and lots of unknowns I had a hard time giving up my "life plan".  I had planned on being pregnant this year and delivering a baby about now.  When we were told that chemotherapy would likely make Danny infertile, I tried to put off my feelings of despair and focus on Danny and his treatment.  In this recovery period, my despair has caught up with me.  I've had a hard time watching lots of friends get pregnant and have their babies these last months.  I'm afraid one of my many weaknesses is self pity and I've indulged in it.  I made a new plan, to try and get pregnant in the fall when we're all settled in Irvine.  This made lots of logical sense and also let me put off my fears.  I had mostly been afraid of testing Danny's banked sperm-a specialist had told us that it was likely damaged by his cancer (that was the one time I sobbed in front of a doctor. With all the good and bad news we received I was able to keep it together-but you can't kill a girl's hopes and not get hysteria. It's okay, he told me I should be happy to have Lucy-jerk.)  The new plan didn't help my feelings, however, and finally I decided to listen to them.  Danny and I talked about it on a beautiful hike in the hills one day and decided to start now. I immediately felt like this was the right time.  The last couple weeks have been filled with ups and downs and I'm sure there will be more of both but starting at the end of June we'll be starting InVitro Fertilization.  I had originally hoped it wouldn't go so far as that, but we have limited sperm to work with and want as many babies as we can get out of it! The doctors decided it would be too dangerous to implant more than one embryo due to my own biological issues (who wants hospital bedrest with twins? Not me, but twins would have been nice.) so we'll just do this until it works. I love my doctor and never dreamed it would get started this fast, so I'm very excited.  I don't think I'll post about the process, but just wanted people to know I guess (as an excuse for my irratic/emotional behavior!) I'll let you know when to start crossing your fingers.