2 Years Old

A month from today Landon will be 2.5 year old! The time has gone by so quickly. As we get ready to take 2.5 year pictures here is a look back at his 2 year photo shoot, complements of 

Anthony Mascari (it is nice having a photographer in the family). 

My silly boy :-) 

This is such a Travis face!!

Click here to see more of Anthony's work. 

$200 Bathroom Vanity Makeover

A few months ago, before we moved, I decided that our master bathroom needed a makeover. We really needed to replace the vanity but purchasing a new one was out of the question. So I began to research other options when I came across a product called Giani, granite paint for countertops 

(click here to see their website). After researching the product and reviews I decided to give the 

White Diamond kit a try, the cost for the kit was $79.00

Here are a couple before pictures (sorry they are so dark):

I also decided to paint the cabinets using Annie Sloan Paris Grey, 

the picture below is after two coats of paint and one coat of both dark and clear wax. 

Now I was ready to start on the countertops. 

The first step is to clean the surface and paint the black base coat. 

All materials needed are included in the kit, making my job really easy :-) 

Next, you use the included sponges to dab on the mineral colors. 

Again, pretty easy. I even was brave enough to attempt veining (for this I purchased a small paint brush and applied a little of the lightest mineral color to create a vein like look). 

After letting the paint dry, I decided I wanted less of the brown and more of the white. 

The nice thing about this product is that you can change the look until you apply the top coat. 

Applying another layer of mineral colors helped the veining blend-in better. 

Finally, I applied 3 coats of the topcoat, waited the suggested curing time, 

and my countertops were ready to use! 

We purchased new faucets, for $40 each on Amazon, and framed out the existing mirror using base boards and crown molding, and just like that, we had a new looking vanity and mirror!

Here is a final before and after. 

Overall, I was happy with the way it turned out and I would use Giani Granite paint again! 

Fertility Journey Part 1

Warning, this is a lot of information, some of it may be TMI ;-)

For the past few years we have been on a roller-coaster fertility journey. It all started back in 2010 when we decided it was time to start trying for our first baby! It was such an exciting step in our marriage, we were thrilled at the prospect of becoming parents. The first few months of trying was slightly disappointing but not too worrisome. After all, 80% of couples are pregnant within the first six months (yes, I look at the statistics regularly). But as each month passed, we became more and more anxious. Were we going to have to fight the fertility battle? Were we ever going to have a baby? After almost a year of trying for a baby we decided to see our primary care physician. He was able to order a few preliminary tests to see if we should seek fertility treatment. Blood work was ordered, and an ultrasound done. One week later, I was late for my period. I took a pregnancy test, it was positive!! I was shocked!! Could it be true, was I truly pregnant? Flash forward nine months, we had the privilege of welcoming Landon into this world. What a blessing he has been and I am so grateful for him and the joy he brings to our lives!

Knowing that conceiving again may take us a while, and knowing that we wanted our kids close in age, we decided to start trying for another baby when Landon was just 6 months old. Flash forward again two years to present day. We have been to see a fertility doctor and had additional blood workup done. The consensus is that I have something called secondary infertility, diminished ovarian reserve to be specific. Basically, we have discovered that my eggs are rotten, ha! The quality of my eggs is poor making conceiving again difficult, about a 2% chance difficult. I just turned 28 last month and my eggs are the quality of a 35+ year old... Furthermore, the doctor also believes I may have something call endometriosis (occurs when cells from the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other areas of the body). The doctor has prescribed 6 months of a common fertility drug called Clomid, I am about ready to start my third month on the medication. There are other treatments we could try but they are more costly and our chances of conceiving are not much improved with treatment.

My tendency is to be private and keep my problems out of sight with the intension of not burdening those around me. But I realize, those that are truly interested in our journey are those that will join us in prayer, are those that will support, encourage and love us through these hard times. I am so thankful for the friends, family and church community that have surrounded us and encouraged us along the way. Please do not pity us, be excited for us, we are being refined, our faith is growing, and God is on our side!!! Paul called us to rejoice in the trials for they are opportunities for God to work in our lives. Do not pity us, pray for us to grow, pray for our trust in the Lord, to be strengthened, pray for us to have an opportunity to reach others that are enduring the same struggle.

Last note, I realize that 2 years of waiting to become pregnant, when we already have a son, is trivial in the shadows of what some have endured. My intension is to simply share where we are in our journey with the hope it might bring encouragement to others. Life can not be done alone!