At 15 months you:
- Are walking like a pro! It's so cute to see this little person walking around the house.
- Are still a picky eater but are willing to try some new things. You still LOVE fruit. Doesn't matter what kind, you'll eat it!
- Love when your Momma comes home from work. It's like a drug, you go crazy with energy for the next hour and won't let me out of your sight.
- Have called for your Mommy when you're having a bad night's sleep.
- Show your stubborn side more and more frequently.
- Are incredibly smart and are already showing your critical thinking skills. You like to figure things out. And if we show you how to do something once then you've got it, like putting toy coins in the toy piggy bank this weekend.
- LOVE TO READ!!! Books, books, and more books. You bring books to us constantly to read to you. You can't get enough. And that makes your Momma's very happy.
- LOVE TO SWIM! Anything with the water you love.
- Get frustrated sometimes and through tantrums. We're not quite sure how to handle this yet but we've got to help you manage that temper.
- LOVE everyone to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider ALL THE TIME!
- Have several words you use consistently: hi, bye, bye bye, hat, Morgie, Mommy, Momma, doggie, read, bath, eat. There are also a long list of words that you've used a couple of times but not daily.
- Understand when we tell you to do things such as, go get in your high chair, fold your arms, go to your room so we can change your bum, go get in the bath.
- Have another new top tooth. Making a total of 7 that have broken through. But you've been pretty grumpy the past few days so we think you might be getting a molar or two.
- Go nuts for Uncle Steve. You'll even stand at the top of the stairs and yell for him.
- Whine back at the dogs. When they're being whiny you chime right in trying to whine back at them.
- Know who Elmo is and point to him on your bath mat every time you bath.
- Won't give us kisses but will give Eskimo kisses.
You are the sunshine in your lives. You're our miracle. We love you more and more every day.
Happy day baby girl!
Our Conception Story
After eight years together we were pretty sure we'd spend our life with our four legged kids, doing lots of camping, and traveling the world. On August 12, 2004 that all changed with the birth of our God Daughter Tate. We immediately fell completely in love with her and soon began to re-think our decision of not having kids.
In October 2005 we began the process of trying to conceive. As soon as we started trying Shelly began having very erratic cycles which made the process that more complicated. After four tries over six months we decided to schedule a consultation with the a Reproductive Specialist. We were desperate to conceive and on a limited time frame since Shelly had just turned 41. Dee was 35 at the time but not able to conceive due to a medical procedure.
Our first appointment with the Repro Man was May 2006. He suggested we try IVF using Dee's eggs and Shelly as the gestational mother. He felt this scenario would give us the highest chance for success of a healthy pregnancy. We spent a short amount of time weighing our options and decided this was the best choice. We began our first IVF cycle in August. They did the Egg Retrieval and Fertilization on 8/31. Three days later, 9/3, they transferred three embryos into Shelly. Then the wait began.
Shelly promised not to begin the home pregnancy test too soon. Dee had to travel out of state for business a week after the transfer and asked Shelly to please wait to test. BUT, the wait was too much for her and she started testing after a week. At first there was no line. But after a couple of days testing a faint line started to appear. When Dee came home from her trip Shelly told her, "I know I'm pregnant." Dee didn't believe her and insisted the line wasn't dark enough so she tested herself to compare. There was absolutely no line. She began to believe Shelly was pregnant but still had doubt. Dee went to the store and bought another brand of testing strips. After five home tests, we were convinced we we're pregnant due to all positive results. A blood test at two weeks confirmed it; we were going to have a baby!
