Jazzy Decorates Her Space

I guess Jazzy's spent way too much time with me.  She told me the other day that the wall space above her bed wasn't jazzy enough.  So I told her we could work on some cute diy projects to help make her "bedroom" cuter.  Jazzy didn't really feel like lifting a paw to help me out, so she turned over the projects to me.  I was more than happy to oblige.

    

I am a big fan of initials and thought having some sort of "J" would be perfect.  When Adam and I were out running errands the other day, I dragged him into JoAnn's.  I was having a hard time finding a "J" that was a cute font and the right size.  After spending far too much time looking at wooden letters, Adam told me he could just make one.  

And that's just what he did.  I did a Google image search for J's and printed off the one I liked.  Then, Adam traced it onto some thin wood and cut it out with a jigsaw.  

He sanded down the edges and handed it over to me.  I am pretty impressed with this new-found talent of Adam's.  He just might have to make me some more letters to hang up around the house.  

In addition to the "J," I thought Jazzy might like to have a family photo.  She could look at it when we're at work and remember how much we love her.  I found one at JoAnn's that was unfinished wood and decided to paint it and the "J" the same color, to help tie them together.  

I used some white pearl acrylic paint that I had hanging around my craft supplies.  I also grabbed a silver paint pen to make some polka dots on the "J" once the white pearl paint dried.  I ended up using 3 coats of paint to make sure the letter and frame were nicely coated.  

Once all the paint dried, I used some command strips to hang up the "J" and the frame.  They will keep things nice and secure so they won't come crashing down on Jazzy.  

I think Jazzy loves her new decor!  It fits her personality perfectly and gives her "bedroom" a little more pizzazz.  

Christmas Card Outtakes

In an attempt to get things started off on the right foot for the holiday season, I thought I would get my Christmas cards ordered sooner rather than later.  I've been waiting for the day when I could feature my kids on our Christmas card.  Now I have a furry kid: Jazzy!  

I had grand plans for our Christmas card.  I set up the camera on a tripod in our living room.  I have a handy remote control thing that takes the picture without having to push the button on the camera.  Adam took over that responsibility while I tried to wrangle Jazzy.    

It's safe to say it took us a few tries to get the hang of it.  Adam eventually figured out that he needed to put his hand down rather quickly after aiming the remote at the camera.  And I eventually got Jazzy settled down enough.  

First, I thought we could bundle up in scarves and have our Christmas card say "Warm Wishes."  Turns out, Jazzy was not quite a fan of the scarf and Adam looked pretty silly wearing his.  After looking through all the scarf pictures Adam said, "Well, at least you'll have some pictures for your blog."

Jazzy was not having it.  She even tried to rip off the scarf with her teeth.   

We ended up taking somewhere in the ballpark of 85 pictures.  And I do believe only one of them made the cut for our Christmas card.  Although it took awhile and we didn't exactly end up with the perfect pictures, Adam and I had a blast looking at all the outtakes.  We would take about 10 pictures, look at them, crack up, start crying from laughing so hard, wipe away our tears and then repeat the process.  

Adam was watching a football game in the background, so there were many pictures with him staring longingly at the tv instead of the camera.  

Adam also thought it was funny to hit the remote and take pictures when none of us were ready, like so: 

Eventually, we ended up with a winner.  It was NOT this one: 

Once we had our winner, I bought a Groupon for Vistaprint and ordered our cards.  I'll have to show it to you all once we get it in the mail.  Good luck with your own Christmas cards! 

Why I Will Never Ask a Lady If She's Pregnant

Prior to losing my baby, I hadn't really ever considered how asking a woman if she was pregnant might make her feel.  I can't remember ever asking a lady if she was pregnant, but I definitely won't be asking any gal ever again.  The same goes for asking husbands if their wives are pregnant.  Not even if she is clearly nine months pregnant.

The reason why is that it can be incredibly hurtful to women, especially if they are having difficulty conceiving.  And I speak from experience.  Luckily, most of my family, friends and acquaintances are incredibly kind and considerate of my situation.  They know how desperate I am to get pregnant and are very respectful of the topic around me.  

I realize that by blogging about infertility, I am opening up myself and my experience to others.  I do welcome conversations about infertility and am happy to talk to anyone who asks.  My point is that there's a time and place to talk about such sensitive issues.  

When I have one-on-one conversations with my friends or family members and they ask how things are going, that's a perfectly acceptable way to bring up the topic.  By phrasing questions like, "How are you and Adam doing?" or "I think about you all the time," people give me the floor to speak about our infertility struggles without being disrespectful.  It allows me to share whichever piece of information I would like to share.

Asking me point-blank if I am pregnant is not very helpful or kind.  Especially, if we're in the company of others or through social media.  It becomes a horrible reminder that I am not pregnant and it is embarrassing for me to have to admit that I'm not pregnant.  Quite frankly, it's rude.  And it's no one else's business.  

I can think of one particularly difficult example.  When I was working at our district's registration day before school started last year, I had a nosy parent ask me if I was hiding a bump underneath my dress in front of a humongous line full of people and a big group of my co-workers.  After making a mental note to never wear that particular dress again, I responded by saying, "No, I'm just a bit fat."  Now, this was not the most professional answer and given the chance to replay the situation, I would have responded differently.  But in that moment I was so shocked that she was so bold about her question.  It put me on the spot and made me feel awful.  

Unfortunately, there have been other instances when this issue has come up.  To be fair, I don't believe people acted out of malice or any ill-will towards me.  And I know that if they knew how much it hurt me, they would take it back.  

My hope with this post is not to make anyone feel bad about things they might have said to me or other women.  I just want people to stop and think before they speak.

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