The Life of the Wagner's

I am making a post and a month hasn't gone by! Maybe I can continue to get better at this... I have nothing interesting to post. We have just been getting ready for Christmas. It has been fun (for me) decorating the new house. I LOVE having a fire place- now I can actually hang our stockings! I also got a small tree for the sun room and put all of my Auburn ornaments on it. Jarrods Alabama ornaments are on a small table top tree in his "man hut" (the guest house). I haven't finished wrapping presents yet, but I hope to get caught up just as soon as I finish this post.
Friday night we are having a Christmas party at my sister-in-laws house. There are about 15 hosts/hostess's and we are having a band play. It should be fun. We are looking forward to having a house full of guests this weekend coming in for the party. Saturday is our niece Sarahbeths 7th birthday party. She is having a roller skate party. I'm sure it will bring back lots of fond memories from Looneys:) She continues to make us proud- she requested that her friends not bring her a present, but instead bring a gift for a child that is in need. I can't imagine being like that when I was turning 7!
Well, I am about to start wrapping! Have a great week!

I realize it's been over 3 monthes since I have posted a blog.. Jarrods football season has ended- Geneva had a winning season, but unfortunately didn't make the play-offs. Auburn football has come and gone. I'm relieved this season is over and looking forward to a better season next year. As far as the baby situation goes nothing has changed. I thought that right after the first In vitro cycle ended in June unsucessfully that i would want to try again in the fall. Well fall came and went and I wasn't ready. And... (sorry mom) I am still not ready. I think that if I would have gone into a second cyle soon after the first it would have been easier. But after a few monthes and a good bit of time had gone by I realized how hard going through In vitro actually was. After I had time to look back at what we had been through I am not ready to do it again. The multiple daily injections, the hormones, weight gain, bloodwork, traveling to Montgomery and B'ham ALOT (weekly then daily in the last couple of weeks before surgery), surgery.... but worst of all the unknown. The emotional and pyschological consequences were AWFUL. I couldn't even try to explain. And the fact that we bought the "shared risk" plan. If after 2 IVF cycles we don't have a live birth we get a portion of our money back. Thats so scary to us- if the next time doesn't work..... we get some money back- but no baby.
(if you have no clue what I am talking about- We found out last January that Jarrod has a rare genetic disorder that doesn't allow him to reproduce naturally- our only choice to have our own children is through In Vitro Fertilization.) So thats that for now. Maybe I will be ready in 2009 to try again..

And finally on the happenings of the past 3 monthes- WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! It was totally not in our plans. Last year we bought some land outside of town and had house plans ready to go. We were going to start building in the spring. Well, some good friends of ours that flip houses finshed a house in Hartford. When we went to go see the finished product Jarrod fell in love with the idea of the guest house the house has in the back yard being his "man hut". We told them that if they could'nt sell it and could come down on the price to let us know. It was pretty much a joke- especially since when our sister in law Amanda bought her beautifully re-done house from our friends Jarrod repeatedly said he would NOT EVER buy an old house. Well we all now the economy is down now and the house didn't get any bites from potential buyers. On labor day on one of our frequent trips to the Outback they made us an offer. I loved the house except for the lack of closets.. We worked out a way to build on a closet and the rest is history! We have been in the house for about 2 monthes now and are getting settled in slowing but surely.

Well thats what has been going on since the end of August. Now its December and I can't believe it! Friday will be a year since the day Mam-mama left us unexpectedly... (which was a few weeks after we lost my grandfather). It was a hard hard Christmas season last year to say the least followed by a hard beginning of the year with the infertility issues.

We are looking forward to a Merry Christmas season and a happy 2009. We are happy and healthy and we both love our jobs- we do know how very blessed we are. It should'nt be long before I make another post, but I can't make any promises!!

Sorry it's been almost two weeks since the last post! I was super busy last week. Today has been a great day to catch up. I've been catching up on cleaning, washing clothes, and now blogging=) Tonight we will hang out with David and Brooke and Brandon and Nicole. It is always a blessing to be around these wonderful friends. We are all alot alike. We love to eat and laugh. We love Outback Steakhouse (probably too much). Jarrod and I average eating there once a week and so do David and Brooke. Since we all ate there last night tonight we are cooking out. We know we will have a blast no matter where the night leads- we could play Uno, attempt to play Rook, or get the guitar out and sing praise songs together- maybe all 3!

Jarrod's school year is now in full swing. Football season officially starts next Friday night. We (Geneva) were supposed to have a jamboree last night, but Tropical Storm Faye had other plans. Next Friday night we open up with an away game against Rehobeth. I will not get to be there though. In April we got tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert in Jacksonville Saturday August 30th. I didn't know then I would have to miss the game=( Atleast its not a home game! I try not to miss a game at all. This year I will miss 2- both away games. One for the girls trip to Jacksonville and one to go see Wicked in Atlanta. All others I will be at with bells on;) I'll post the schedule soon. We would love to have anyone who wants to come watch a game!

We are also excited about college football! I can't wait to watch Auburn play and Jarrod has had next Saturday planned for over 2 weeks. His day will start early with watching film from the night before and then his day will be dedicated to Alabama football. I will have my computer in Jacksonville to keep up with the Tigers opening game. We each plan on going to atleast a couple of games in Auburn and in Tuscaloosa. Jarrod will join Amanda and I in Auburn for the LSU game. He will probably be wearing purple and gold. Amanda and I are planning on going with him to the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa. Wherever we are when it comes to game time we usually watch in different places- atleast in different rooms. We have alot of respect for each other. Our no crap talking policy (to each other) is how we can handle being married to the enemy every Saturday each fall. See, here's a picture of us at the 2007 iron bowl. Come game time we were at different parts of the stadium.


I leave this paragraph with WAAAAAARRRR EAGLE!

One last thing we have had going is trying to figure out when to build our house and when to try our next IVF cycle. BIG decisions huh! We feel like what is best for us is to start building our house in March. That way the bulk of the project will be in between baseball and football and Jarrod will be able to handle all the sub-contracting and do alot of work ourselves. Too bad he doesn't get all summer off!

As far as our next IVF cycle we have decided the best time to try again will be December/January.

Lots of factors have gone into our decision making process and of course LOTS of prayer. We are both at peace with both of our big decisions.

Also, this week I will begin a weekly bible study. Beth Moore "Breaking Free". Brooke invited me, it is at her church where she and David are the youth ministers. I am excited about it and hope to grow in my spiritual life alot.
I will also be helping with and be apart of an infertility support group. It was started last fall at Calvary Baptist Church in Dothan. It is called Hearts Desire Ministry. Its for women suffering from or have suffered from infertility or miscarriage. The Lord let me straight to this ministry. They had taken the summer off to pray for the Lord to help them know what direction to go with the ministry and how to get the word out about it. I am excited to see the ministry grow and be blessed by Him!

So thats what's going on- a little bit of this, little bit of that, and lots of football!

I have finally (somewhat) figured this blogging thing out and now I can get started!

Many of our friends have starting blogging and I find myself reading their blogs often. It has been a great way to keep up with whats going on in their lives. I have finally talked myself into starting this because I think it will be a good way for everyone to keep up with whats going on in our life. I am really bad about not filling people in and forgetting who I tell what so hopefully this will help. I will give a little background about us to fill you in on what has been going on pre-blogging:

We were married on May 21, 2005. Jarrod and I both graduated around that time and moved to Hartford. We live in a rental house owned by his dad and brother until we build. Jarrod went to work for Wagner A/C until last summer he followed his heart to coaching/teaching. He is at Geneva- the rival of where he went to school- Geneva Co. He loves it! The administration, teachers, and coaching staff are awesome. He is very happy! He puts in loooong hours each week, but we all know he would'nt be happy if he didn't stay busy working. I started off selling copiers and have ended up the marketing/admissions director at Hartford Health Care. I have been there for over a year and a half and I love my job too. We both know what it's like to be unhappy in a career so we thank the Lord that we are both happy.
2007 was a very hard year for both of us. I lost my grandfather Papa Joe October 27th. He had a heart attack and stroke and had been struggling with cancer among other illnesses. It was hard to watch him get weak because he was such a strong and independent man who was always on the go. I miss him alot but am glad he is not suffering anymore. My grandmother Mam-mama passed away unexpectantly on December 5th. Most of you reading this who know me has atleast met Mam-mama before. She was always at every activity I ever had. She was like a second mom. We were extremely close. This was by far the most traumatic experience I had ever had. I had been trying to call her to talk to her and couldn't get her. She had passed away in her sleep. I thank the Lord she didn't ever have a big delcline in health- she could still take care of herself. But thats the part that makes the selfish part of me so upset because I (and the rest of my family) was not prepared at all for her loss.
Last October I went to the doctor because we had been trying to concieve for a year unsucessfully. We discovered I have "subclinical" hypothyroidism. I began treatment for that. I had other test and procedures done and planned on taken a medication (clomid) for what we thought was our problem- not ovualting. Before I could start that medicine Jarrod had to get checked. We put this off til the last possible time because he wasn't looking forward to it and we thought we knew our problem. He was tested in January of this year and to our suprise found out he has "congenial absence of the vas deferens"- a genetic disorder. What this means is the "piping" that carries out the necessary male contributor to creating a child does not exist in Jarrod. It is pretty rare- I believe around one in a million. There is no possible way for us to have kids except through in vitro fertilization. All of this news was mind boggling. Thankfully I know a couple who have the same problem. (What are the odds!) So she helped me through all the initial questions I had before we could get to the specialist. And so our IVF journey began. After a "cycle" of testing it was determined that we could start IVF. We did our first cycle this past spring. It was insucessful. The emotions that go along with what we have gone through are unexplainable. It has been tough. Fortunately we have faith in our Lord and know He will guide us through this. God only allowed Jarrod to have a pity party about his condition for about a day before he clearly spoke to Jarrod and told him He was doing this for a reason and it would be ok. Talk about an experience we will never forget! So far Jarrod and I have gotten closer to each other and to God. It has been such a learning experience! After we found out the first IVF cycle didn't work I did'nt know when I would be ready to go through that again. The shots are a piece of cake, the surgeries not too bad, but when an embryo- a living creation formed of Jarrod and I with the potential to continue growing and in 9 months be in our arms,was put in me it was a feeling I couldn't began to explain. It was VERY emotional. I have just recently begun to think about the next cycle. More about that on our current blogs.
Among other issues on the Wagner side of the family that are heartbreaking to us, we have been staying with his mother 2 nights a week since the beginning of the year and will continue to do so. She has Multiple Scerosis for those who don't know. She is an extremely strong woman and is dealing with what is given to her as best she can. She does not want to have to depend on others to take care of her and that drive (stubborness) is what is keeping her going as much as she possibly can.
I think that has wrapped everything up in a nutshell. From now on I will be giving updates on what is currently going on!

I (Lindsey) have just recently decided to start a blog for Jarrod and I. I am learning how to get all of this started by trial and error. I plan on doing an introduction blog, but at this point I am going to keep exploring how to get started and will have a "real" blog soon (hopefully)!