FOUR little FULTONS: lake

Showing posts with label lake. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

We are SO lucky to have such WONDERFUL relatives that allowed us to invade their home over the summer. Invading is just what a tribe like ours does! My cousin Lori has a second home in Lake Toxaway, a beautiful place in the NC mountains. It's on a lake, so beautiful & most of all PEACEFUL! That is when the tribe behaved & didn't argue! LOL! I'm SO very blessed to get to spend any time with Lori away from our "normal" lives. It just meant a lot to get to visit in the first place! It truly was just what the Doctor ordered, away from the "rat race" & some peace & quiet! With all the drama that we have been dealing with back in FL this was pure Heaven! She took us out tubing on the lake, hiking in the woods & even took in a little shopping in downtown Brevard. LOVE LOVE LOVE that town! The tribe thoroughly enjoyed themselves as did our "helper" Caitlynn. This was her first time in NC. Her first time tubing on a lake, first time hiking to see a waterfall, heck it was just a week full of "firsts" for her! SO happy to be able to be there for that!

and that was our...

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tuesday Toot...

Ok I was "nudged" or better yet reminded to join the ranks of the many that did a "Tuesday Toot" today. I LOVE Tuesday Toot's! I just can never figure out the linky thing to add it to our blog. Remember I am computer challenged! LOL! Actually I have missed a few "Tuesday Toot's" since we went on vacation. It was HARD trying to keep up since I was viewing things through my tiny phone! We're FINALLY home & I am sitting in front of our computer! YAY! During our mini vay cay it rained a lot in S Florida, so much that the pond in our back yard is now a HUGE lake that even has fish in it! Yes fish are now swimming around where our yard used to be! TOO funny! Don't get me wrong I prayed for rain! We have been in a drought & our yard looked terrible! I just would like a yard & not a lake! (= This is a perfect example I give my hubby on why we need to bring in some fill to raise the yard up. I keep telling him that I'd like to bring in a few loads of dirt to raise the yard up a few inches. He says it is a waste I think of the future. That way when we get our NEW "used" swing set it will be high & dry with no standing water! The other bad thing about all the rain is with it comes the mosquitos! Man are they BAD! The county we live in even has mosquito control where they fly planes to spray. Linz ALWAYS gets bitten & bitten BAD! They must think she is SO sweet! She sure has those skeeters fooled! Only kidding! LOL! Here's to hoping for a DRY...

Tuesday Toot...

Monday, June 8, 2009

Which would you choose?...

Our oldest, Dustyn, is SO spoiled! He was recently given the opportunity to spend a month, yes a MONTH, at our cousins lake home in NC. They usually spend their summers up there & invite people up to visit. Their youngest son Dylan just so happens to be the same age as Dustyn. Pretty cool huh!? They just LOVE hanging out toegther. Deciding between staying in FL or going to NC was not going to be a tough decision! We did not have to ask him twice! Since he is a BOY & BOYS do not take pictures to capture moments, LOL, I knew I would not get any pic's from his trip. I searched through all of my photos to give you a glimpse of what he is probably doing. You see BEFORE these munchkins we too visited them. The pic's are a few years old but they serve their purpose. (=

This is the sweet view from their dock. Blue Ridge Mountains baby!

This is a typical afternoon, TUBING! In fact today they went tubing AND hiking! He is having a blast! Trust me he is not even thinking about us! LOL!

We are SO lucky to have such wonderful family members! Thank you!! Here is a pic of their beautiful home that they fill with love.

We on the other hand get to enjoy days like this!

I do not think it was a hard decision do you? LOL!

Which would you choose?...

Our Story...

Ok I am now over 8 years into this "job" of mine, being a mommy to multiples, high order multiples to boot! They say that if you try to conceive without protection for one year with no success then you are infertile. Those words were a lot to take in. I sought answers from everyone. We started out with our 1st OB/GYN Dr William Casale doing the normal testing that they were equipped to do. We did it all, IUI's, spermwashing, etc. I then contacted RESOLVE, a wonderful organization for people like me (could not get pregnant). I started making mental notes of what I needed to achieve my dream, to be a mom! The next step was to go see a Fertility Doctor. We chose to see Dr Mark Denker. After checking me out he then referred Michael to see a Urologist who ended up putting him on clomid. Yes, men can take this RX too! It helps make more sperm just like it helps a woman create more follicles. It is AMAZING the things you learn when you are trying to conceive! After further testing we were both told we had fertility issues, I had fewer eggs than a woman my age & they were "tough", Michael had double vericasils so that in order for us to have the "best odds" we needed to go the IVF route. I had this feeling that it was not going to work right away, call it my intuition. So we bought a package, can you even believe that they sell "packages" like a travel agency? Our "package" included 3 rounds of IVF with ICSI, minus all the meds I would need. The drugs are an expense we did not even think of but had to purchase for this entire thing to work. Well, it ended up taking all 3 rounds of IVF & accupuncture courtesy of Dr Susan Schiff for me to get pregnant & boy did I get pregnant! (Trust your intuition!) We started out with very few follicles, only 3 fertilized into embryo's and all three took. I was finally pregnant! 8 weeks into my pregnancy one of the embryo's split & became identical. Can you believe that!? What are the odds? No one told me that could happen! AMAZING! We had a lot of decisions to make. No one thought that we should keep all four. In the medical world it is called a "selective reduction". Only a few doctors even do this procedure. We did not know what our future would hold just that we could not reduce anything! In the beginning we had a hard time finding a doctor that felt like we did & wanted our four babies to thrive! We finally found Dr Moises Virelles, a fellow Christian & my now OB/GYN. He then referred us to an AWESOME Perinatologist, Dr Gary Cohen. Having the two of them on our side we knew ANYTHING was possible! My pregnancy was really uneventful. I was put on "bed rest" at 22 weeks. I later found out my "bed rest" was unlike other women's bed rest. I was just not allowed to work. I continued to do things, just stayed off my feet as much as possible. If I went shopping I would ride a motorized scooter. If I went to a party I sat pretty much the entire time. I had no issues, my cervix was long & rock solid. I really feel that God wanted me to be a mommy! The babies were great! They kicked each other more than they kicked me! People would look at me & could not believe that I had four babies inside me, I tell you I was meant to carry quads! Now don't get me wrong, it was not a joy ride, I was miserable towards the end & felt it very difficult to breathe. I never even went into the hospital prior to January 15th. Even though I asked them to admit me MANY times!! On January 17, 2007 we welcomed our GBGG quads; Camryn, Brendan, Avery & Lindsey into this world. 1 set is fraternal & 1 set is identical. They weighed 4 lb 7 oz, 4 lb 4 oz, 3 lb 6 oz & 3 lb 3 oz. I made it 32 weeks 5 days when I delivered them at St Mary's Medical Center. They were all HEALTHY and they did not need to be intubated! WOO HOO! They were little miracles destined to be here! I had nurses come up to me & tell me how wonderful it was that I carried them so long, that it was a better gift holding onto them as long as I did than a Harvard education! WOW! We were SO happy, excited & most of all unprepared for how much our life was about to change. I will say it was a GOOD change! I cannot imagine my life without them! Everyone watches our little ones in amazement & they still do. This is their story....

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