WHY-OH-MING

Well, it is true. We are officially leaving the South, for the time being. It is kind of sad, because ALL of you are here and we will miss being able to get to you when we want. BUT it does give you all a reason to take a vacation. Believe it or not we are very excited about the move. Tyler and I feel that this move is a great thing. Who knows we might get out there and LOVE it (I doubt it), but you never know. Tyler has had a feeling that while he is working with the Reserve Unit he will meet one of the reservist who will offer him a job. WHO KNOWS????? Anyhooo I want you to all know that we expect visits and we will truly miss you all. I tear up just thinking about all the missed family events. But I am a big girl (I mean a BIG girl) and I can deal with it. If we are in Cheyenne for Thanksgiving we already have plans for dinner. We will be home for Christmas, we just might need a ride home from the Airport.

Love to you all

Maria, Tyler, and the TJ-man

Katie's Monday Post 8/28/06

This Wednesday we will find out if Alphonse and/or Berta have found a snuggly home. The preg test is at 8:15a on Wed. I’m so nervous. Everyone keeps telling me that I should take a home test the morning of, but I don’t think I will. I’m thinking since they’re doing a blood test that the pee test may not be accurate and I could either (a) get my hopes up or (b) be disappointed……both for no reason. So, if you think about it, say a little prayer for us on Wednesday morning.

In other news, some of you may know about the “water in the crawlspace” issue we’ve been dealing with for the past year. We got some quotes together since our builder agreed to pay for it to be fixed. To have the crawlspace fixed and the landscaping redone, it was coming out to almost $7,000. We had a phone call with him last week and he has reviewed the quotes and has agreed to pay for EVERYTHING! We were nervous b/c we thought the quotes were a little high (especially the one from B-Dry to fix the crawlspace – it was almost $5,000). We are so grateful that he’s agreed to pay for it!!!

Well, I’m off to work…..or at least pretend like it. Have a great week!

2 Out of 11 Ain't Bad

Well that's all we got. 2 embryos. I heard from Dr. Forstein today and the other two didn't make it. So all we've got is the two that have been transferred. Dr. Miller called them Alphonse and Berta. He said "you can change their names later." LOL!

We are praying for smooth sailing tomorrow for Bowen to join our family. We are excited for him to finally be here. I'm sure he was just staying w/ Alphonse and Berta until they got safely to earth. Then he was ready to join us. Thanks Bowen!

Love you all.........

Looks like we made it...

Bowen decided to not come while Stephen was gone. Stephen got home today, and mom and dad left about 15 minutes later. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and babysitting me! :)

KT, we are still keeping you in our prayers! (My parents have put your name on the temple prayer rolls a couple times in the last week as well!) We feel really good about this! Keep your head up!

Maria, there are worse places than Wyoming! Plus, the church is pretty strong there. I feel sure we can totally work out the Christmas thing! So, don't get too worried about it. I am kind of excited for you guys. Moving is stressful, but there is something refreshing about a new start! I always kind of enjoy moving...sick but true!

It looks like we will make it to the scheduled date, Aug. 22nd. So, less than a week now! Love you all!

TOMORROW!

Well tomorrow is the day of extraction. Creighton gave me the hCG shot last night (in my upper-right-cheek-area). I'm a teensy bit sore there today. I couldn't sleep on my back all night. It's only 3:00pm and I wish the day would hurry up and be over. It has been nice to not have to take any shots today. I don't have any today or tomorrow. Then we start a whole new round of shots on Wednesday.

Friday is the really big day. Transfer! Then we wait 12 days. So we won't know for sure if it took until the pregnancy test on the 30th. Pray really hard for us, OK? We want this to happen. I'm 32 for Pete's sake!

I am really sad to hear the news about Maria and Tyler, but since there is a Target and a Wal-Mart right outside the base in Why-oh-why-oh-why-oh-me-Wyoming, I find this acceptable and approve of the move. Hehehehe!

Good luck Rozzie with keepin' that kid in until Stephen gets home. I know he'll wait for his Daddy to be there!

Love you all!

PS - found out who the new RS Pres. is and she's super cool. I'm gonna have fun working with her. :)

No News is Good News.... I guess

At least that is what they say (who is THEY by the way?). Anyhoo.... I don't know if all of you know and this is probably a real CRAPPY way to break the news, but Tyler has been in for a reassignment to Wyoming, yes folks that is not a typo WYOMING. The great state of ..... well RODEOS? I guess. Well, we haven't heard anything yet, so I guess that is good. I don't know. We are having real mixed emotions about the whole thing. I think we are both excited to venture out and try life on our own, but then again it sure is nice to have dependable babysitters at the touch of a button (Ros, you know what I mean). I do know that Heavenly Father will send us wherever we are needed. We do love Charleston, but we have both found ourselves getting very frustrated here, not only with Tyler's job, but with our ward. We know the church is true, but buddy these people in Charleston can sure drive you BONKERS!!!! We won't know anything about Wyoming for at least another week. Just keep us in your prayers and know that we will miss you all, if we go. Oh, I forgot to mention the tiny ity bity bit about when we would actually need to be there, (if you have a weak stomach you may want to stop reading now) we would have to be there in Decemeber. So for now Christmas is in the air. We love you all.

Love,
The Franklin Family

Fasting for KT and Creighton

Hello Family,

I will also send this out on email...I know we don't all check the BLOG (shame shame). I know we are all aware that this is going on, but I wanted to suggest that we all fast and/or pray for KT and Creighton this Sunday. It looks like things are a go for this weekend. Even if for same reason they don't happen this weekend, it might be a good idea to fast and pray that they will be able to happen soon and successfully! I have talked with KT about this (fasting) before, but didn't mention it recently. However, I feel sure they would not object to prayers on their behalf! There is power in numbers! So, this Sunday, let's all fast & pray for KT and Creighton and success in the invitro procedure!

Love,
Rosalind

Calm Before the Storm

Hello all! I have been feeling fabulous the past three days. I am pretty sure this is the calm before the storm. I am still a little tired, but I seem to be sleeping better and feeling better than I have in over a month. Full moon on August 9th...so maybe! If I don't have the baby this week, then I will just have to wait for the date the doc scheduled, because as most of you know, Stephen HAS to go to G'ville Aug 14-16 for work. So, thank goodness for mom and dad...they will come and "baby-sit" me and the girls! Anyway, hope you are all well. KT, you need to tell those ovaries to knock it off and behave! :) Love to you all!

Ain't No Misbehavin'

Welcome to another edition of “Katie’s Misbehaving Ovaries.” Today we will be delving into why they think it’s a good idea to form huge cysts and what Dr. Miller has to do to drain them.

Yes, folks, that’s right….last week I had a cyst aspirated off of my right ovary. 32cc’s of fluid removed. It was a successful procedure and we are moving forward with this round of in vitro drugs.

We started Gonal-F and Repronex on Saturday (the 5th). I go in for blood work tomorrow at 8:15am, so we’ll see how things are looking then. I just don’t see any difference or feel any different than last time so I’m keeping an optimistic outlook but if it’s not good news I won’t get too upset. So if y’all aren’t busy tomorrow around 8:15 pray for me to get good results, ok.

In other news….our entire RS Presidency is getting released except for me. Well, I guess technically I’m getting released and recalled into the same calling. I don’t know who the new president is, but I’m sure it will be fun to get to know someone else. I’m just sad that Susan and I only got to work together for nine months. :)

JCL and I went to the temple on Saturday and it was great. We barely made it to the 3:00 session and it was almost empty so it was nice that it wasn’t crowded. We stopped afterward and got a burger at one of our favorite places in Cola and then we headed home. All in all, it was a great day!

Better run…..as Chris Hawton likes to say “work hollers!”

Shoot 'em up Tex....

A few random thoughts from Katie:

Started shots last Friday. 10 units (5 mg) of Lupron. I've mostly been giving them to myself as cranky pants is usually still asleep when I'm doing this. I am scheduled for blood work and a baseline ultrasound tomorrow. That should be fun. Geez I need a bikini wax before this show gets on the road....and when I say show I mean SHOW! You girls know what I mean......

Went to ElliottDavis last week for a baby shower for a friend of mine that still works there. It was so nice to see everyone again and it felt good to be there. I really miss working there.

I'm throwing a bridal shower for a girl in my ward on Thursday. Luckily it won't be at my house. It's going to be at another girl's house. And it's at 7 on a Thursday so we're just doing cake an punch. Nothing exciting! She's marrying a boy from Gaffney. He is Dana Duncan's brother, Curtis. I was friends with Dana when we lived in Gaffney.

Our friends Aimee and Ken Perry moved on Saturday. They moved to Massachusetts. I am very sad. I miss them so much already. I don't have their phone number or anything so I don't even know if they got there ok. I'm hoping Aimee will call this week to give me an update.

Hope y'all have a good week. Only 2 more weeks until it Bowen-Time! Right? TTYL!

Did you know?

Did you know if you get oil based paint on your hands and face that petroleum jelly will take it off? Ask me how I know...

Stephen painted trim work and the door in the nursery last night. However, Kate and Clair were sleeping in there. So, before bed he told them not to touch the door or this one section of trim because the paint was wet. (Like waving a red flag in front of a bull.) Anyway, I put the kids down. Stephen went into our bathroom and closed (and locked) the door. My dad went to bed (in Clair's bed) and Emily and I went down to the basement to load some song on her I-pod. About 20 minutes later I hear crying/screaming. I run up the stairs and my dad has Clair by the arm and she has paint all over her face and hands. My first thought (because she is screaming like a maniac) is that she caused the door to fall on her. Then I realized she must have just been touching the door. I went and got Stephen and he blew a gasket! He got the petroleum jelly to clean her up. I said to her, "Clair, why did you touch the door when Daddy said not to?" She said, "Well, actually I touch it free (3) times." My dad said he heard someone go into the bathroom and turn on the water. When it stayed on for a while he went in to check on what was going on. He thought she got into toothpaste. But then he realized even her hands under the water were still white and he knew it was paint. He was trying to bring her to me, when she freaked out, and started crying. She wanted to get back into the bathroom to wash her hands. Paint was all over her pillow case, all over her PJ's, in her hair, on her hands and face (even in her nose a little), all over the knob to turn on the water, on the sink counter top, and on her step stool. Thank goodness for petroleum jelly and paper towels! We dd manage to get it all cleaned up. Needless to say, her dad spanked her. But...

just so you all know, petroleum jelly will take off oil based paint!

IVF and other News

Just a quick update to let everyone know what’s going on in Creighton and Katie-land. We’re...well...I'm back on the b.c. pill for the next two weeks. I start another round of shots on the 28th-ish of this month. We’ve been surfing other fertility pharmacies to see if we can find one that is cheaper than the one we initially ordered from. If any of you have IVF friends, ask them what pharmacy they used, for me. I’d love to know. We have to place the order this Thursday.

In other news, Rebecca Dunlap is moving here this weekend. We’re helping her Saturday afternoon. I’m excited for her. She’s starting a new chapter in her life and I think it’s going to be a great move for her.

My good friend Aimee and her family are moving back to Massachusetts. I’m very sad about this. She has become such a good friend to me. I am really going to miss her. Her hubby left three weeks ago. We went to dinner with them the night before he left. He hugged me and Creighton and said, “thanks so much for your friendship.” He’s not a member….and I know he feels pressured sometimes by other members. When we first started hanging around with them we decided we weren’t going to ever bring it up. We were just going to be his friend and hope that fellowship would do the trick. Aimee called him on Sunday morning last week, and she asked him if he was going to go to church and he said, “I’m just getting ready to head out the door.” It’s a small step and I’m not saying that we had anything to do with it, but it’s a huge deal to Aimee. I’m really going to miss them.

Well, I’m off to the gym for a nice rockin’ time of Step II. Hopefully I won’t die of cardiac arrest since I’m so out of shape!!!

TJ says KATE

Okay, so not really but he was close. Today, Tyler had TJ in his lap and was showing him a picture of Kate (the one he loves to take off of the end table) and Tyler was pointing and saying, "Kate" and finally out of nowhere TJ says his own version, "Tate". We tried to get him to do it again, but NO LUCK! I just wanted to share with everyone how sweet it is to hear him speak.

Love to you all!
Maria

Kids say the funniest things!

A few nights ago, Kate was saying the family prayer and she said (really slow and drawn out),
"Thank thee for ... Daddy ... Mommy ... Clair ... and especially for me."
I about choked trying not to laugh.

Then yesterday I was talking with Clair and I said to her, "You sure are pretty, who made you so pretty?" She got this disgusted look on her face like she was insulted I even had to ask and said, "My Mimi and Papa made me pretty!" (I was looking for Heavenly Father maybe!)

Our Fourth!

I hope you all enjoyed the 4th of July! We had a pretty good day!

We actually started the party on Monday night! We invited Duncan and his family over for FHE and the fireworks in Kennesaw. We also invited some firends of our from Church that don't have kids. He had to work until 8:00, so she came over and had dinner and joined us in the FHE with the Hammonds. Then we went and watched fireworks and ate cookies and brownies. Kate kept her ears covered with her hands, but only got upset right at the beginning. They weren't that loud, but now she just lets her imagination get away with her! (Not very rational, but at least she didn't cause a big scene.) Clair did ok...she sat in my lap and would shake if it was a little loud, but once Kate settled down, Clair was fine. They didn't get into the bed until really late that night.

The next morning, 4th of July, I got up early and ran to the store. I had to get a few things for games for the kids for our ward breakfast. (LONG STORY!) Anyway, it was HOT as where the devil lives and we hung around and got all sweaty for about 2 or 3 hours and then went home. I was totally spent so I took a nap, and Stephen slept on the couch while the girls watched a movie. When I got up it was 2:00 and no one had lunch or anything. I made sandwiches and then we put the girls down and Stephen and I watched Germany in a heart wrenching lost to Italy! It was a real heart breaker...but hey, not everyone can win! After the game Stephen painted the ceiling in the nursery and I took down tape. It is really coming together and will look SO cute. (Today I am taping up for the trim work and taping up for the dark blue stripes on the walls.) I can't wait for you to all see it! Then we cooked hot dogs and ate dinner and then we bathed the girls and we all went to bed.

So, that is our 4th in a nutshell. Hope you all enjoyed your 4th. We wish we could have been with family, but there is always next year!

KT, hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Oh Kate!

So, about two weeks ago, Kate notices a school bus driving by. She asks why the school buses are still going by when school is out for the summer. I told her that some kids don't do well in school and so they have to go to summer school to get extra help.

Fast forward two weeks...this afternoon we are eating lunch when the school bus goes by. Kate says, "There goes the school bus. I wish I hadn't done so well in preschool so I could be going to summer school. Although, I mostly like the playing part."

I about fell over laughing. Where do these thoughts come from? Like preschool was a pass or fail situation? Too funny!

What a Lucky Kid

TJ sure is lucky to have such a great family and so many great friends. He had a SUPER 1st birthday. I wish that Stephen and Roz and the girls could have been here, but we really want her to WAIT and have that baby. Ya know!!! :) Anyhoo..... I did want to say THANK YOU, to everyone who helped out. You guys are the best. Mom, KT, Jessica, and even Roz all helped me either here or talking me through it on the phone (thanks Roz). I love you all.

Thanks dad, for helping Tyler so much. I love you all.

Maria

She's growing up too fast...

Hello All...I tired to post some pics today on the BLOG, but it wouldn't let me. However, it would let me post on the Call BLOG. Go and figure. (Normally I can't post pictures at all!) Anyway, I want you guys to see the funny picture I got of Clair...she got caught playing in my make up bag. Check out the Call Blog so you can see them!

http://www.callcorner.blogspot.com/

Love you all!

Father's Day

Hope you all had a great Father's Day. We had a pretty good one...except that Clemson lost their baseball game. They can't lose anymore or they will be sent home. :( We were all pretty sad about it. I am hopeful they can rebound and move on. It wasn't the way Stephen wanted his Father's Day to end, I am sure. But he did a good job of letting it go!

We did have a wonderful dinner. Stephen grilled steaks and we had baked sweet pots (with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon) and a tossed mixed greens salad with hard rolls. It was SOOOOO yummy! Clair didn't much care for the sweet pots which is sad considering how much she liked them as a baby. She kept saying, "There is hair in my mouth!" They are a bit fibery! Kate loved it all. She kept saying, "this is the best stake ever dad!" or "This is the best sweet potato ever mom." Then for dessert we had some of my yummy homemade peach ice cream. It was all fantastic! Stephen bought these HUGE steaks, so it looks like we will get to enjoy this meal again as we had left overs! You should see the sweet potato Stephen bought...it was the size of a football! :) Lucky for me he couldn't finish it all! It did take almost two hours to cook! Crazy boy...that's what I get for sending him into store while I waited in the car with girls. I can't complain, he did a great job picking out the steaks...even though they were rather large too!

Hope you all had an enjoyable Fathers Day! Wish we could be there next weekend so we could all be together! Our thoughts will be with you!

Good News.....Moving Forward

Just a quick post to say........good news! I had my baseline ultrasound today and my first blood work up. I passed and everything looks good. We are officially moving forward (see previous post for more detailed info. LOL!) See ya'!