Hello everyone,

It's a cyber move! Within a few days, or sooner, you can find me and my blog over at

www.blogs.fertilitycommunity.com which you can also get to by typing www.fertilityblogs.com

Please keep in touch and it has been great writing and reading with you,

All love,

Karianne

Massage Techniques
- Wrap your hands around your feet with thumbs on the soles and fingers on the top of your foot. Start by making circular motions with your thumbs and cover the entire area of the heel, soles, ball, and toes.

- Next, use your thumbs to make long, deep strokes on the soles of your feet, moving upward from the heel to the ball. If you feel some soreness in one area, spend extra time there to soften it up.

- Don’t forget your toes! Spend a good 30 seconds or more on each toe. One at a time, rub and massage your toe all the way from the base to the tip. Use small circular motions and then ... more

Being a massage therapist, I know the power of touch. For the majority of my clients their favorite section of the massage is the feet. There are a few though that really cannot stand to have their feet even lightly touched. If you are like those very few clients, you may not want to read this post as it will teach you how to enjoy your very own foot massage. The detailed way that this is written is better than what I learned in massage school. The only thing that I would add to these steps is to put on some relaxing music before you start and also to remember to breathe deep to help internalize the relaxation response.

From ... more

One of my younger brothers called me today to tell me that now every time he hears the Band Aid song, Do They Know It's Christmas, he thinks of little Bec. He said that having Bec has totally changed the way that he understood the song from when he was he was younger.

If you grew up in the 80s like we did, you have to know this song. I hadn't heard it on the radio yet this year, so I listened to it online. I did have different images for me as well, and I'm glad that he shared this little tidbit with me. Here are the lyrics, just in case you just got them out of minds!

Lyrics With Performers
(Paul Young)
It's Christmas time
There's no ... more

Coley's most recent post inspired this post from me. She writes about how a Christmas letter has changed and does change with growing up. It reminded me of this Christmas song that I listen to every Christmas on my Merry Christmas To You CD by Reba McEntire.

Artist/Band: Reba McEntire
Lyrics for Song: A Christmas Letter
Lyrics for Album: Merry Christmas To You

At an antique desk
An old man sits alone
It's Christmas Eve
And it's almost time to go

He signs his name to a letter he just wrote
Then he reads it back with a voice as soft as snow

I want peace on earth for Christmas
In a world where there's ... more

Tomorrow I am foreseeing a sticky and uncomfortable evening with an in-law. This is nothing new and is actually the norm for the past 5 years. With some new developments within the last month though, I'm not really sure how things are going to play out.

I've decided to try out some of the coping strategies that I've been posting lately. Here is what I've been doing or what I will do:

Limit your participation in family celebrations. In years past, this coming up function would have required Herculean stamina as a short 2-3 hour visit would have been "rude" so we would stay at least 5 hours, including driving time would make it 6. Now, we will head out around ... more

"Clomid For Christmas" Holiday Medical Treatments by Teri Brown.

I found this article on line yesterday. Not only is it timely, but the coping suggestions are perfect.

Limit your participation in family celebrations. If your family's holiday traditions include children opening presents, you may want to come at the end of the gift opening, or skip it altogether. If you are feeling particularly depleted or vulnerable, there is nothing wrong with giving yourself permission to protect and take care of yourself. It is OK to say, "No, we really can't make it this year." If you want to limit the ... more

4. Define 'On Time'

"Being on time is really respecting other people's time," Post says. "Communicate about what 'on time' means to you. It means different things to different people."

Post also advises to call if you're running late and check with the host first if you plan to arrive early. If you are the host, let family members know what time you would like them to arrive, rather than what time you plan to start the meal. Don't assume people will come early to help unless you ask them directly.

5. Avoid Re-Gifting

"You don't have to break the bank for a really nice gift," Post says. "The key is to find something the person will really like. ... more

As we're heading into the holiday weekend, here are some more ways to avoid some of the possible stress. The following hints are from www.webmd.com

1. Be Realistic

Post tells WebMD the first step toward enjoying the festivities is to set aside idealized images of how things should go. "Be realistic," she says. "Don't think anything is going to be perfect."

2. Anticipate Conflicts

"Plan ahead and try to be as calm as possible with other people," Post says. If you can anticipate the types of conflicts that are likely to come up, you can plan a response in advance. This can help avoid the knee-jerk reactions ... more

Chris and I were just remembering that this time last year was the time that we got our news about Becken. The above photo is the one that came with our referral, our very first photo of our beloved son.

I had been nervous and removed and quiet as soon as I knew that they were sending out the information to us. I had spoken to our worker at our agency on the phone when she called to tell us about him. I was in shock I think because we hadn't expected a call until February and here it was only December! I went to Chris' work to tell him about ... more

Well, my aunt was at it once again. I came into the office this morning and found another sweet little handmade gift tucked into my computer keyboard. If any of you need a last minute stocking stuffer idea, or just want to hand out a small gift that won't cost a lot of money, this project could be just what you are looking for.

To describe it, I'll do my best and I'm sure that you will get the basics of it. My scanner really wouldn't do it justice since the font and the papers are so small. She took a piece of thick white paper and cut it decoratively to about 3x4 inch dimensions. On top of this she glued a regular piece of blue copy paper so that only the white showed as ... more

I can't think of too many things more stressful on couples than dealing with infertility. Add in the holidays and it can become unbearable. From www.about.com I found some helpful hints for couples to use during the holidays in coping with the extra pressure, regardless of fertility issues or not.

What The Two of You Can Do
Eat healthy meals and drink plenty of water.

Watch how much caffeine you consume and try to cut back on it.

Make sure you discuss money and how much you both are comfortable spending on gifts.

Set a holiday budget together and stick to it.

Talk over your expectations of the ... more

As you can tell by the photo, I found an appropriate Christmas style outfit for Bec! Ivy already had her little outfit that was purchased for her by my mom last Christmas but didn't fit. It is a little sweatsuit by Ecko with the white fake fur around the hood and sparkley rhinestones in a star pattern on the jacket and pants. It is odd because Ivy is 3 but can fit into a variety of sizes. For instance, this outfit is 18 months!

We took the kids to our local mall to have their Santa pic taken before it got too late in the season. I was ... more

Here is a very interesting post that I found from Lisa over at www.adoptionshare.com

The way that the table copied onto this site, the numbers for 2006 are listed first, with the numbers for 2005 underneath.

The following data lists the number of children adopted by parents in the United States from countries outside the U.S. in 2006 and 2005. They are listed in order of highest to lowest. These numbers were recently published by the U.S. Department of State and the stats for years prior can be found on their site as well.

Fiscal Year 2006
Fiscal Year 2005

1
6,493 ... more

Well, have I got the blog for you!

Christmas For All

And talk about the "For All". The posts on this site run from instructions on how to decorate with lights on the outside of your house, all the way through to the Brad and Angelina wedding planned in South Africa this Christmas. The posts are pretty put up pretty regularly and are very lengthy and fun.

The blog started back in August with a post on "Christmas Party Ideas". The blog is written by Sean Carter who
also has blogs titled, "Thanksgiving", "Valentine's Day" and "Halloween For All". There are lots of links for almost every Christmas need and ... more

Yet again while I was reading this book, I found another story that I need to pass along. These quotes are all from the same segment, yet I've skipped some of the entries.

And this is how I ended up participating in the blessing of a baby who had reached the age of six months, and who was now ready to touch the earth for the first time. The Balinese don't let their children touch the ground for the first six months of life, because newborn babies are considered to be gods sent straight from heaven, and you wouldn't let a god crawl around on the floor with all the toenail clippings and cigarette butts. So Balinese babies are carried for those first six months, ... more

I am in the process of reading the book eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I just finished reading the following passage that I thought was too beautiful to not pass along.

Ketut went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into the world with us and protect us throughout our lives. When the child is in the womb, her four siblings are even there with her - they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these exraneous birthing materials ... more

One of my favorite traditions of this holiday season, or any season for that matter is the receiving, through snail mail, holiday cards. Is there anything better than finding a card or letter admist the bills and promotions? Not too many that I can think of anyway.

I even enjoy the Christmas letters that a lot of people have issues with. The sappy ones I have a laugh at and the honest ones I adore. And I especially enjoy any card with a family or child photo. Those are priceless. I have a client and a friend who still sends out her holiday card with her 3 kids on the front. And two of them are in college. I couldn't even imagine the planning that goes into that one. ... more

Let me first clarify that I'm in a cruddy mood tonight. I'm about to head into a rant about now, so if you don't want to hear it, I'd stop reading now.

This is my baby's first Christmas. Maybe not his first Christmas on Earth, but his first Christmas celebrating with our family. Do you think that I could find any article of clothing to celebrate that fact? After driving around today to 4 different stores on the opposite ends of town? Nope.

There are adorable onesies, Santa suits and bibs declaring all about Baby's First Christmas. But none over size 9 months. Now my baby is only about 14 months old, but he wears 18 month old sized clothes. Even the bibs are too ... more

I had read about a Japanese company that had designed a cell phone to help women with their fertility cycles. It was only in a small news byte, but I wanted to learn more. Even after checking the company's website, I didn't have enough info to post it here. After checking different gadget related and tech blogs, here are some facts that I patched together.

However, a new Japanese service is taking text messaging where perhaps no one has taken the technology before: family planning. Offered by the ... more

This morning I came into my office and on my desk was a very sweet ornament made for me by my aunt. My sister and mom also had one each. I will try to accurately describe what it looks like.

It is a clear ornament with a small amount of gold tinsel tucked inside. I would say approximately 10 strands, just enough to get it sparkly. Also tucked inside is a very small white feather. Attached to the hook part of the ornament is a handmade tag of red construction paper. On the tag is another white cut out with decorative scissors. On the tag is then ... more

In 2002 December 4th was going to be my due date with our first baby. I miscarried about 10 weeks along so we never made it to that special delivery day. Yet, every year, I think about our baby and remember the joy of being pregnant. I also remember the extreme sorrow when we lost him. (I write "him" although I have no proof besides how I felt when I was carrying him. I thought for sure that our baby was a boy.)

The first year of loss I had a princess day with one of my best girlfriends. We both took the day off from work, got manicures and pedicures and went to lunch. It wasn't sad, we stayed busy to not think about it too much. I remember getting in the car that day ... more

I suppose Ethiopia feels confident in their choice to allow us to parent Becken. We just had our 6 month post placement visit with our beloved social worker, Marilyn. You could tell that I had been involved in these visits for over a year now, because I didn't even clean my house as I had before. I straightened up as much as I could before she got here, out of courtesy for company, but not out of any fear of being a bad adoptive parent.

She has always arrived at our house right on time. Even this time with icy roads and unpredictable weather. And then, she plays with Ivy. Then we sit and talk over mineral water or tea. And boy do we talk. About everything! She asks ... more

In honor of World AIDS Day today, I wore my "WE ALL HAVE AIDS" t-shirt to work and around town as I ran errands. And there were quite a few errands to run as today is also my husband's birthday. Aside from both offices, I went to Target, Mail Boxes Etc, Dairy Queen, the grocery store, teriyaki restaurant and two banks.

I was hoping that someone would ask me about my shirt. I wore it over a long sleeve black shirt, and under my denim jacket that was open so that the shirt could be read. The most that I got were some sidelong glances, except for one woman who ... more