A little encouragement...

I guess that I have not exactly been the encouraging type lately. Most of you probably know that Jason and I have been working with a fertility specialist for a few months now and I have to say it has been a journey! Forever ago a dear friend of ours told me that I should be checked out for polycystic ovarian syndrome, something that she had AND was successful in having 4 healthy pregnancies. I asked 3 doctors about it and every time they said, "no point in testing, you are not a classic case." Well, back when we started working with my current doctor, I actually went to her because we thought there was a good chance that I was expecting. I chose this Dr. because I have heard LOTS of great things about her and most of all that "SHE WAS THE BEST!" Well, I went in and they drew blood for a pregnancy test and without my knowledge also for the PCOS test...I wasn't pregnant, but I do have PCOS. Now depending on which side you take there are two different stories about what PCOS is...doctors say one thing and nutritionists say another. But that is a different debate. Anyway, due to some of the happening with my PCOS, my body actually was tricked into thinking it was pregnant when in fact I was not. All the classic symptoms AND THEN SOME and yet there would be no bundle of joy at the end of 9 months.

Anyway, the Dr. said that she thought there was a high possibility that she could help us so we decided, after much prayer, to go ahead and work with her. We tried some meds the first 2 times with NO results, and we have now tried a method where I gave myself shots in the tummy 5 days in a row of HCG. This has done some good things for me and we are encouraged that there is light at the end of the tunnel. ENTER SOME BAD NEWS! My doctor is moving her practice to New Zealand! ENTER BETTER NEWS: Her last day of seeing patients is September 30th! So, now we have a doctor that is actually helping and she is taking off on me! Whoa, this is great. Well, there is someone that she said would work with me in town and we are going to have a meeting with him in the near future.

But in the midst of all of this I have to say that I have not been the help meet to my husband that I should be. When dealing with PCOS it messes with the Pituitary Gland (basically the master hormone) and does funny things to emotions! Jason says he can tell which Ashley he is getting when he looks at me, this is not the way that I would like to be with my husband and I are praying that each time I have to do the shots that the effect on my emotions will be less and less.

Now with all of that said, I do not want you all to think that I have been a monster to live with or anything...but as the doctor stated it, it will make you very tired and you will have times that you act as if you were pregnant.

I guess why I am sharing this with all of you dear faithful readers is because I like to be an approachable open book to friends and family. There is also a certain level of accountability when you have shared a weakness with other people, and it will (or at least SHOULD) help drive a person, in this case me, to work at being better in particular areas of life. I need to work at not letting the shots get me down so bad that I neglect my responsibility as a wife. I also want to warn others about polycystic ovarian syndrome, it is the leading cause of infertility and a high cause of miscarriages. The thing that I really want people to know is if you have a hunch that you may have it to push your doctors harder than I did...the sooner you get a grip on it, the less cysts are there and the easier it is to deal with. My doctor says I have a 50% chance of conceiving, and after that a 25% chance of carrying full term. Not great odds, but I know that we serve a faithful God and if it is His will that we have a child naturally, it will happen.

In the mean time, if any of you are in a great giving mood...please feel free to send Adoption Donations our way as we would still like to adopt one more time!

Mommy Moments

There are no pictures to share with this post. I was too busy enjoying my daughter to take pictures!

Tonight we had kind of a crazy out of sorts night. Jason was busy working on the sheetrock so the mud and taper could come on Wednesday and Ethan went to bed VERY early. That leaves Ada Grace and Mommy!

I didn't know how it would go because lately she had been Miss Independant. It was WONDERFUL! With Ethan coming only 3 months after Ada Grace, there have not been very many times that I have been able to spend 1 on 1 time with either of my kids. For my sanity I have put them down for naps and put them to bed at the same time.

Ada Grace and I had the most wonderful evening. We watched HGTV together and just played and giggled ALOT! I cannot remember having a more wonderful time as a Mommy. I mean, sure, the every day life is wonderful YOU ALL KNOW I LOVE BEING A MOMMY. But with two so close together there is not many moments I can look back and say "that was when Ethan and I did..." or "Oh, Ada Grace and I went here..." I had re-energized me as a mother. I encourage my blogging friend from The Chambers Family Blog that this is something to make sure to do as you are looking at adding number 2 & 3 to your family! For some reason 1 on 1 time has not been something I have thought about before tonight! It will have to be something I work toward doing at least once a week with each of my wonderful children!

I thank God for the little blessings that turn out to be BIG memories!

Kids

This was Sunshine's first meeting with Nema, our very hyper Doxie. As you can see, he didn't think much of it!
 Princess generally loves the dogs, but she wasn't sure about them in the house with her! Sunshine is keeping his eye on Nema Jaylee, just to be sure that she isn't going to try to lick him again. (She did!)

  Sunday night after church we invited the two newest families in the church over for pizza, it was funny watching us "train" from the church to the house. There were 13 kids and six adults, the first people made it to the house as the last of us were leaving the church, one steady line of people!

It was alot of fun....we are so excited to see what God is doing!

Our First Tragedy

The poor ducky, it is a good thing he wasn't a true living being!
Do you see the little fingerprints in the red? The kids thought it was alot of fun to play in it!
Ethan, still laughing and smiling...even though he has several battle wounds to show.
The scene of the crime. We are still in the process of thinking of little people that are mobile and ready to experiment with anything they can get their little hands (or fingers) on.
Daddy, who feels like he is ready to pull his hair out, I guess I will not be looking for him to offer to watch the kids while I go out again!

So here is the story. Every first Thursday night of the month we have FPA (Foster Parent Association) meetings that we can go to and it counts toward our credit hours that we need to keep up for our yearly foster parent liscense. Well, we tried taking our babies to the nursery back in January (Ada was 3 months and Ethan was a week old) and we were not exactly pleased with how they were tended to. We then found out that only one of us needs to attend to get the credit hours. So we started taking turns staying home with the kids. These meetings are usually 2 hours long and teach us about different things that foster parents will find useful. Tonight we learned about Meth and the effects it has on people and what are the warning signs. Anyway, I will be honest, I was looking forward to a night without 5 little people competing for my attention, though I love them all dearly. I went to the meeting, learned alot, reaffermed that I never want to be around drugs, talked to other foster parents after the meeting, and arrived home about 8:45 as usual. When I walked in I was greeted with a "be careful!" I looked down and saw chairs strategically placed throughout the kitchen and dining room and went on to see the scene as viewed in these pictures.

Jason is a wonderful person, and he has found out what we go through every day. One of the older boys had a bathroom problem and hid it from him until it was too late andthere wasmesses all over. The other boy wet his pants. Then while Jason was on the phone with his uncle trying to find out what is going on with Grandma Henry (she is failing very fast) it heard a loud noise. Ethan had gotten some jars off of a shelf and one broke, home made salsa (dad we could use another jar!) Well, our children have a strange love for peppers and spicy things so before Jason could get their they found out that the salsa tasted very good! The kept digging around and putting it in their mouth. Ada was able to walk away with no cuts at all. Ethan must be right handed, because his right hand is all cut up. I have not actually seen the hand without the bandages, Jason took care of all of that before I arrived home.

If any of you know my hubby, you know that he doesn't like to panic over things. He had just gotten on the phone with his Uncle Dave and there was alot that needed to be shared. Jason was on the phone almost the entire time that he was bandaging/cleaning/checking the kids out! Uncle Dave had no idea what was going on! After checking out the situation, Jason saw the cuts were minor and knew and ER visit was not needed.

I do not know detail by detail, as I was not home. But my wonderful husband went through alot tonight and I am very thankful for him...I am also thankful it was him!

Somehow through this entire ordeal, I ended up getting in trouble! Imagine that!

Ethan is fine, and is in bed right now playing around! (Thankfully)

The Kids of the H.House

The first picture is of Princess and Boo at a birthday party we went to on Saturday for one of the boys in our church. My dad would be impressed...we bought him the DODGE remote control truck (I was really looking for a Honda, when the found the FORD I was sold...but since the birthday boys Daddy drives a DODGE I decided it was only right!)
This is AR (in white shirt) and CR (in Navy)
So far I have seen that they are very well behaved boys and very polite!
This is KR! Isn't she just the cutes little chunk in the world. I know I posted the other day that we were only going to have two foster kids, and then I told some of you that we were going to take care of sister Kailey during the day like daycare while foster mom was at work. Well I told them enough times that I was willing to take all siblings that first they worked it out so I was going to be a registered daycare so that I could LEGALLY watch her during the day (to keep the siblings together) but then they all decided to over ride the 'no more than 2 under 2" rule to keep them together full time. So we have 5 full time kids right now...when we said we were working to catch up with Handsome's brother) & wife (N.L 9 ~A.D 7 ~F.J 5 ~G.L 3 ~& K.H 5 months) we were kiding! Our poor Odyssey is packed to the limit...but it will get us to Thanksgiving at my parents house anyway! Good, trusty, HONDA!!!

Life Gets Crazier!

I may not be an every day blogger for a while! I just got a phone call about a 2 year and 3 year old brother and sister that will be with us for a while...most likely through Thanksgiving, and maybe even through Christmas. I will get pictures when then come (either today or tomorrow).

Have a great day!

Going away for the weekend

The kids and I are leaving Daddy for the weekend...we finally got in to see a specialist in Sioux Falls! The kids and myself will be heading out around 7 am tomorrow to spend Friday & Saturday at my parents house. Sunday we will be going to church in Lake Benton and then Mom will be coming with us to get a hotel in Sioux Falls. We have to be at Sanford early Monday morning and have tests all day long. The kids and I will be able to be reunited with Daddy again on Tuesday afternoon.

Unfortunately we will be missing a court date...but there wasn't much that I would have been involved with. I just like to go hear first hand what is happening.

Anyway, life has been a little crazy this week...sorry for the shortage of pictures!

Birthday Pictures

I cannot believe that it is actually time for Baby Girl's birthday pictures. Of course we couldn't just take her picture! She did a really good job. The first picture they took of her is the one we kept!
The picture of the two of them isn't my favorite, I liked the idea...Boo wasn't sitting on his own at that point so I am actually behind him holding his overalls!
The picture of him by himself is great...I love it! He is sooooo cute! Sorry, my scanner is down at the moment, so these are pictures of pictures! Come to the Party on the 29th and you can have your real pictures!

A rough start

Friday evening we started out for eastern South Dakota and just a half hour down the road ran into quite a suprize!
The weather was great to start with and then all of a sudden we heard a sound that you really do not want to hear while in a vehicle surrounded by glass...hail! It started small, about pea sized, but quickly grew to tennis ball size. The over passes were full instantly, we decided to keep going as this was just the beginning (we had turned off Patch the Pirate and tuned into a local radio station) there were times we were going just 15 miles per hour, but it was so sad to drive by all the people on the side of the road that had lost 1 or more of their windows. We just kept praying, "Lord, please keep the windows, please, for the children." He answered our prayer, though we did have a crack in the windshield, it never caused any trouble.

As we looked to the other side of the interstate, they had closed it due to the large amount of glass along the road. For 10 miles we saw a double lane of vehicles bumper to bumper, and almost all of them were without at least one window. Bikers were running from their motorcylces and finding safety in strangers cars and trucks. We so badly wanted to stop to see what the damage was, but decided we HAD to stay in front of the storm so kept going. We drove for about an hour before feeling it was safe to stop for a few minutes. These pictures aren't great, it was raining, but I had to have something for the blog. I have to say I was a HONDA lover before, but we faired so well in comparason to the other vehicles we saw. I saw one family in a Chrysler 300 they had two adults and three kids in the front seat because their back window had been smashed in. The cars looked like they had been beaten with baseball bats. We had minor damage compared to most others...it was hard to watch hail stones the size of tennis balls bounce off of your hood! We have reports that we had up to $10000 damage to our 2007 Honda Odessey. We dropped it off at Vern Eide Honda in Sioux Falls (were we bought our last two vehicles) and they have started on it as of today. We are now driving a loaner 2000 Odessey until our Van is finished. We are thankful the Lord protected us as well as He did!

By the way...if any one wants a good vehicle and want to trust that you will be taken care of contact Curt Foos at Vern Eide in Sioux Falls! They have done well for us with our 1998 Accord and 2007 Odessey!

I am sure you will hear more about this at a later date!

A short break

I will not be adding any new pictures until Monday or Tuesday...we are going to eastern SD to stay with my Mom & Dad and having the annual Family BBQ with Handsome's parents.

I will guarantee that there will be lots of new pics next week!

It a BIG one!!!!

5 years ago today, I married Handsome! It is amazing how fast time goes. It is amazing what one day can hold! August 10th 2002 was a very full day, two lives became one, I married my best friend, he and I shared our first kiss (in front of almost 200 of our closest friends and family) , and our children were not there to see it!

Handsome had his brother as his best man, and his other two groomsmen were Farmer and Handsomes sister's husband. I had Handsome's brothers wife as my matron of honor, and my other two bridesmaids were my aunt and Handsome's sister. Our flower girls were NL & AD, our ushers were Byron (friend), Chad Vis(friend), & my cousin.

We are so amazed to be here, and see where the last 5 years have taken us. 5 addresses, 1 house project, 2 children, 2 dogs, 12 vehicles, 2 lawnmowers, adoption, fostering, and many many miles! We love were we are now, but cannot help but wonder what the next 5 years will bring.

Thank you to all who helped us join our lives together 5 years ago, and thank you for the memories that you have helped us create since then! For those of you who we have not seen since August 10th, 2002....get in touch we miss you!

We thank the Lord that He brought Jason & myself together, and that He has given us these 5 wonderful years!

Guess What Honey....

I bought you something. My husband shocked me speechless today, he called me and let me know that we now own a new lawn mower! He really wanted a John Deere, but we would have had to buy it east river, and haul it back. So this is the next option. My husband doens't usually do stuff like this...so I was very shocked!!!

Happy mowing honey!!!

Third post, no pics!!!

Well all, I am sorry to say that I have no new pictures for you to see at this time. Though we do have two extras staying with us for about a week. They are very sweet chidlren, and we look forward to the week ahead. I also look forward to capturing their smiles sooner rather than later! Hopefully for tomorrows post there will be pictures. I am aiming to get some of the pooches on here as well. I think they may be feeling left out! Have a great day!

Two More!

Just for all of your information, I might be a little slow in posting for the next week...we are suppose to be taking in a brother and sister that are 4 & 3 years old. I can't give many of the details, but we will have them for a week or less....as you all know I don't get on my computer often while we have extras in the house! I will keep you posted, and get pictures of them up at soon and I can!

The best husband ever!

As I anticipate our 5th anniversary coming in just 9 more days, I reflect on the past 4 years. My husband is a wonderful, devoted man. Everything he has the time to do, he devotes himself to. He is very committed to pastoring our little church, and he is such an encouragement to the members. He is very committed to his personal devotion to God. Along with, our relationship, being the best Daddy in the world, and picking up the pieces that I tend to let fall through the cracks. Looking at my my planner from July, I only had 3 days that there was not an appointment or event going on. That doesn't leave me a ton of time for my wifely duties (cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.) Handsome is good to pitch in where needed, as for the shopping, he takes care of the kids in the evenings so I can go without them. I appreciate him very much!

The first picture of Jason is him holding our mini doxie Nema Jaylee. The second picture is of Handsome with his brother and sister.

Long Weekend!

This was the kids on Monday....tired!!! Cranky!!! My kids like there regular life, their schedule, and everything normal. They did their best to be happy to be home, but the lack of naps this past weekend really got to them about noon! Boo was so tired he just leaned over in the saucer, Princess just cried and cried in her bouncer! I LOVE BEING THEIR MAMA!

First Timer

Hello All! I cannot believe I am actually starting this, but here I go! I will try to be faithful to posting, I cannot promise an every day update...but it could be a fun way for you to see into the CRAZY life of the Hartungs! At this time we are trying to finish our house we built and are now selling, trying to remodle the parsonage we will be moving into, raising our 7 month old daughter and 4 month old foster son. I am sure you will hear lots about them! We are looking forward to getting out of the basement apartment of the church, as of Monday we will have lived down here for a year!