Santa

Temperance got to see Santa for the first time!!! She got to "sit" on his lap and tell him all the good things she wanted! And then the week before Christmas she got a special phone call from him!! All the way from the North Pole. And a letter that told her all about who he was and how we leave milk and cookies and he brings gifts on Christmas Eve.

History of Temperance

Ok, on my first post I posted about the history of Josh and I. Now it is time to tell you a little bit about how we got Miss. Tempe. We were in the process of buying our home and I had said in passing a few times about when to start trying for a baby. I wasn't really ready just thought that was the next step and we would talk about it for a while before we started. Well, to my shock on our way home from Concord Mills mall one June night Josh, out of the blue, said he was ready. We decided to tell only our parents at first but living in a big family and so close that didn't last long. We tried on our own for months and nothing so I went to the doctor. She put me on Clomid for 2 cycles and said it was time to see a specialist. I had other ideas, it was time for me to find another doctor. We hadn't even been trying a year yet. I switched to my wonderful doctor now, Dr. Carroll the following April. She worked with Josh and I for about 1 1/2 years on Clomid and doing various testing. Still nothing. We took sometime off trying to sit back and see what to do next, move on with trying or adopt. We decided to move on. Dr. Carroll recommended Dr.Y. We went to him and once again more Clomid. The Clomid was to help me ovulate. That didn't work so he put me on a medicine that is typically used for breast cancer patients but for some reason helps ovulation. I ovulated. We tried some more. Still nothing. So I was put on monthly injections of the actual hormone that is released during pregnancy. In November 2008 I was tested to see if my tubes were open for the second time. One was simi-blocked. With the advice of the doctor we decided it was time for surgery. Dr.Y felt 99% sure that I had endemeteriosis. I had surgery Febuary 20, 2009. When he got in to remove it, nothing. Healthy everything. As nice as it was to know I was healthy it was upsetting not to know what was causing all of this. I felt this would be it and we would get pregnant. What to do next? Dr.Y informed us that we had "unexplained infertility." Something he had rarely seen. The next step would have to be IUI. After many thoughts and prayers we decided to go ahead. As a Christian couple we had to decided if this was going too far. After praying together we felt that Dr. Y was sent by God to help us with this. It was still in His hands. He still had control of if it took or not. Dr.Y was just there to give it a little push. The morning of March 2, 2009 the day of our appointment it snowed. We weren't even sure if we could make it to the office in Winston and if we did would they even be open. We went on. And thank goodness we did, they were open. We did our thing and Josh took me to work. I wasn't at work 30mins and cramped really bad. I knew then it had took. I just had to wait 2 weeks to test. The injections I took could give a false positive so I had to wait for them to get out of my system. On March 16, 2009 I woke up at 3 am took a test I had and of course it didn't work so to Food Lion I went. I bought the cheapest test they had and came home and took it. It was positive. We had our Miss. Tempe!!!! We want to say a special thank you to all of our family and friends that has been with us through this. It was a difficult time for each of us as individuals and as a couple. We may have seemed to be a little distracted over the years with all that we were going through but thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, and support. We couldn't have done it without you.

Our First Family Thanksgiving

We celebrated our first family Thanksgiving Thursday! Tempe was so good. We went to GG's on Thanksgiving for lunch and she got to see all of her family and then went to Mawmaw's for supper. Mawmaw's was just us and Mawmaw and Pawpaw. Which was nice. Then on Sunday we went back to Mawmaw's and she got to see the rest of her family. Most of them for the first time. We can't wait to get to decorate for Christmas this year. I have been making plans for things to do and traditions to start. I have started my online Christmas shopping. It looks like that might the only shopping I do this year!!! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and we are all so thankful for all of you.

Temperance's first doctor visit

We went to the doctor yesterday. Dr. Wilson is great!!! We went through a lot to have him as her doctor but are so glad that God worked again and things worked out. She has lost some weight. Which is normal for breastfed babies until mom's milk comes in. We are supplementing with formula until mine comes. She loves it!!! The nursery was able to give us a finger feeder but showed us how I can use it with breastfeeding at the same time and she doesn't know the difference. I have to admit that although she is doing good eating I never knew I would be this sore from it. She slept almost through the night last night. She is still having a hard time sleeping in her bassinet. She likes to be with mommy or daddy when she sleeps. This is hard because we did not want her in the bed with us. But I can't stand to hear her cry. I just lay her on my chest and let her sleep. She will sleep right through this way. Which is hard for me. They tell me I need to be feeding her every couple of hours but it is so hard to wake her at night when me or daddy are also asleep. I feel lucky that she likes to sleep.

Tempe's first night home.

Last night was Tempe's first night home. Things went pretty good. She ate really well at about 7pm. She ate for over an hour!! After Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Nanny, and Poppy left we all got ready and went to bed. She was not ready for bed however! She was a little fussy until about 3am. I tried to feed her but she didn't want to eat. I finally got her to sleep by putting her on my chest and laying down with her. All she wanted was to feel her mommy. We slept like that for about 2 hours. Then she woke up and was ready to eat. Once she got her belly full she was back off to sleep. She still wakes up every now and then and wants one of us to hold her but once we hold her for a minute she is just fine and can be put down again. For the most part I think we had a pretty good first night. Better than a lot that I have heard of! I have to say I am one lucky woman. I have a wonderful husband that is the perfect daddy and will do anything to make sure I get my rest and a BEAUTIFUL little girl that is our miracle gift from God. I thank Him constantly for all He has given me!!!

What's in a name?

We have gotten asked by almost everyone where we got her name. Josh has has Temperance picked out for years now. We debated on how to shorten it to Tempe. Should we spell it Tempi? Should we spell it Tempe? Or should we spell it Tempe with the Astrix above the last e? We picked the easiest! Lol! Allyssa is a variation Eloise which is a variation of Louise. Louise is my moms name and was both of our Grandma's names. We wanted to use Louise but wanted a more modern version. We decided to use Allyssa because my great grandma was Alice and Josh's great grandma was Addie this is why the two ll's.

She is here!!! We are tickled pink to announce that Miss. Temperance Allyssa Bowers was born on Nov. 17, 2009 at 4:48am. She weighed 7 lbs 2 ozs and is 20 inches long. We are all doing very well and are home, healthy and happy.

The History of US!!!

Josh and I met April 21, 2001 in Wal-Mart parking lot. When I pulled away from exchanging phone numbers I knew he was THE ONE. We started dating the next day when he called and we met once again at Wal-Mart and drove around Lexington for over 3 hours just talking. We were then married on August 9, 2003. It was the most beautiful and meaningful wedding that I and a lot of people tell me they have ever been to. It may have not been the fanciest wedding but we took a lot of time thinking about our family and friends and included things that made them comfortable and were sentimental not only to us but to them. We will welcome our first child any day now and finally become a family of three. After over 4 years of trying we will be welcoming a little girl. She is already the light of her daddy’s eyes. And of course I can’t wait to have my little princess. We went through a lot and said a lot of prayers to get here and now that it is here we don’t want to miss any part of it.