July 25th, 1978

I swore I hit publish post, but I guess not! Thought I would still post it anyways...

I thought it would be interesting to share some infertility history information that I came across from another fellow blogger (even though I am a few days late). Although Alison wasn't conceived this way we did spend lots and lots of money trying. Medical science has come a long way in 30years. I am so grateful for the this doctor and the knowledge that he had because so many lives have been changed for the better because of it. People truly don't understand what it is like on this road less traveled so if I could help educate people I am in for it!

It's the 30th birthday of the world's first baby conceived by in vitro fertilization, Louise Brown, born in Oldham, England (1978).
Her parents had been trying to conceive for nine years. A doctor told Lesley Brown, the future mother of Louise, that she had a blocked fallopian tube and referred her to Dr. Patrick Steptoe, who had been conducting research on fertilization for many years. The Browns decided that they would have Dr. Steptoe harvest an egg from Lesley's ovary, which would then be fertilized with her husband's sperm in a laboratory. Dr. Edwards would perform this fertilization in vitro (from Latin, literally "in glass" — coined in reference to the test tube in which experiments were performed). A few days later, Dr. Steptoe would transfer the newly formed embryo back into the uterus of Lesley Brown.
The research leading up to successful human in vitro fertilization spanned many decades. In the late 1800s, a research doctor had extracted embryos from an Angora rabbit and placed them in the uterus of an already pregnant Belgian rabbit. The litter this pregnant Belgian rabbit produced consisted of four Belgians and two Angoras. Through this, the doctor proved that it was possible to take embryos at a certain early stage and put them into a gestational carrier — in other words, a biological surrogate mother — and that these transplanted embryos would develop normally.
Scientists began to study eggs and embryos widely in the laboratory. It took researchers two years to figure out correctly the timing of human egg maturation.
In 1959, Dr. M.C. Chang, a reproductive biologist, performed an in vitro fertilization that resulted in the first successful live birth. He took eggs from a black rabbit, fertilized them in the lab with sperm from another black rabbit, and transferred the resulting embryos to a white rabbit, which gave birth to a litter of young black rabbits. His experiment formed the basis for the first successful human in vitro fertilization.
The procedure done by Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Edwards was successful. Louise Brown was delivered on this day in 1978 at 11:47 p.m. by Caesarean section. She weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces. When she was four years old, her parents told her about the manner of her conception and showed her the famous video of her birth.
She has a younger sister, also conceived by IVF. In December of 2006, Louise Brown gave birth to a son, conceived without any fertility treatment. For many years she earned a living taking care of children at a nursery. Today, she is a postal worker near Bristol, a job that leads to puns about "deliveries," according to sources. Today, there are over a million children that have been conceived by in vitro fertilization, and the birth rate of IVF conceptions is now near 1 percent.

Sea World

Alison is so lucky to have an Aunt Linda who loves her soo much...she treated Alison to her first trip to Sea World! We had a blast. We were down in San Diego with Greg's basketball team and Aunt Linda happened to be in town also Cousin Grant's 25th birthday (here's a shout out to Cousin Grant!) So two weekends ago, Aunt Linda, Cousin Mark, Nicole, Michelle (my sister), Alison, and myself spent the day having a blast. Auntie Michelle was in love with the dolphins! Alison actually was very interested in all the animals and was not afraid to stick her hand the tanks. Everytime we moved on to another exhibit she would cry until she saw a new animal. Thanks Aunt Linda for a wonderful day..we had a blast!! Here are the pictures from the day....

Inspiring

We just love that our friends Steve and Mandy include Greg and I in their christain concert venues that they attend. "Camp director" (as we call him) always calls us and says "We are in for this concert!" We love it especially because he always finds the best seats!! Well Wednesday evening 6 of us went downt to the Orange County Fairgrounds to see Mercy Me, The David Crowder Band, and 10th Ave. North in concert at the Pacific Ampitheater. By the way little side note..I love that ampitheater becuase the seats are big enough that Greg doesn't feel cramped with his feet!! Any ways the concert was amazing and the message was even more inspiring. Bart (the lead singer from MercyMe) talked about how everything we do & experience is for His glory whether it be good or bad. Aint that the truth! Thanks Steve for a wonderful evening!!

Oh no...

She better not be making a habit out this! Today while I was at work I got a phone call from Greg (mind you he was watching Alison all by himself which he is very good at!). He says, "I think you are going to get a kick out of this.." and I was like "Ut oh...what happened?" And he proceeds to say " Well Alison decided to go POO in the shower this morning!" I laughed and then guess what????? I asked him if he got a picture of it? I thought it would be hilarious to add to her previous incident. Well dad didn't find that so funny and his response was..."Are you kidding me??? I was all wet!" Ok...sorry.. ;) So if you would like to keep any water ( pools included) clean maybe you shouldn't invite Alison! Ayi this girl!

Code Brown

So last night Alison and I decided to stop by and visit her Grandma Kathy and her two cousins Braeden and Kelsea. Daddy was at basketball so we were on our own. When we got there Braeden and Kelsea were in the bath... Excellent..One less thing for me to do when I get home. So I pull out my camera and stick her in with them. They are playing and having a good time and things suddenly took a turn for the worse....um...Alison decided to add her own floaties to the water..yep....SHE TOOK A CRAP IN THE BATH!! Luckily Kelsea had gotten out already but poor Braeden was sitting in crappy watery (literally crappy water).. We hurried and got him out as he was yelling..."THERE'S POOP IN THE WATER..THERE'S POOP IN THE WATER!" And take a guess at what Alison was doing...laughing hysterically of course! Thanks Grandma for helping clean up the mess! So...we quickly cleaned up and headed out of there..I thought we had caused enough ruckus for one night! haha!! Check out the progress of bath time...
Bath time....

Everything going just fine....

And Here are the additions......

9 Months old!

Wow..only 3 more months until my baby girl turns the big ONE! I think I have said this a 1000 times..but I can't believe how fast time is passing by. She had her 9 month checked up yesterday and everything went great. No shots either so it was a great visit! She weighed in at 17 lbs 12 1/2 oz and is 26 3/4 inches long. Her stats pu ther in the 25th percentile but the doctor was not concerned because she is growly proportionally and hitting all the developmental milestones.

Her are some of her favorites and developmental milestones that she has achieved...

Favorite sleeping position: Any postion that allows her face to be burried and her arms stretched out. Her tornado pictures say it all!
Favorite foods: crackers, breads, cheerios, peach yogurt, ice cream (given by her aunties), sweet potatoes, hum...just about anything you stick in front of her!
Least favorite foods: Dad swears tomatoes, but Mom says watermelon. I don't think she likes the texture..Who knows!
New foods we've tried recently: cheese! that's pretty good. Pasta. Blueberries.
Favorite beverages: she'll drink anything including the rasperberry tea that her g paw gives her. She figured out how to drink from a sippy cup on Saturday so no bottles for her!
Favorite new tricks: standing up on anything...and doing jumparoo with the jumper! I'll have to catch that one on video so you can see it...Oh yeah she also loves to cheer when daddy is holding her..I will catch that one too! It is a crack up!
Favorite toys: her bath toys, her paci, a bumblebee...and anything she can put in her mouth!
Favorite game: playing peek a boo, and making silly sounds.
Favorite person: her daddy.
Favorite sounds: She likes to make sounds like a bobcat.
Favorite thing to do: is play with her cousin Kelsea
Favorite creature to stare at: she loves loves loves dogs!!!
She overall is a very happy happy baby. She constantly makes us laugh. What she is working on now: cruising...she is going to be walking soon..Man I better get ready! Finger foods: learning how to pick up small things and manage to get them in the mouth.
Mom's favorite thing about her: Holding her when she's sleeping - these are the moments when I am reminded what a precious gift from heaven she is, I truly feel like I am holding an angel sent to earth to change my life. And I love the way she touches my face, she looks at me and studies my features, and gently touches my nose and mouth and cheeks and ears. Her dainty little fingers feel so wonderful on my face. (Lisa you said it perfectly!) Her laugh is also contaigous!

I will post some pictures soon!

And the biggest idiot award goes to.....

ME!!!!!! ugh..how can I be so stupid? Please tell me when the last time you heard a rabbit say Ribbit!! Idiot!! If you have no clue what I am talking about just take a peek at the previous post with Alison in rabbit towel!

HOP HOP...Silly rabbit Trix are for kids!!

Thanks Laci! I need someone to keep me in check!! UGh...Stupid Me!!

And you know what? I am going to be so proud that I am not even going to fix it!!!

Ribbit Ribbit

Silly Rabbit Trix are for kids.....

And again...

My daughter caught sleeping like a tornado...yes she is fast asleep..yes is was sitting up and...YES SHE JUST FELL OVER!

Check her out....