Preparations

My Winter Break has started -- finally!  I'm excited for tomorrow, as my plan for the day is to work exclusively on getting my holiday baking done.  I have a few recipes picked out, but am always open to suggestions.  So far, the list includes peanut butter blossoms, cut-out cookies, Mexican wedding cookies, maple shortbread cookies, butter cookies, and chocolate crinkle cookies.  I realize I'm being optimistic in thinking I'll get it all done.  Even as I typed the list I see that this might be a daunting task.  I will give it my best shot.  And, as I said I am definitely open for suggestions to add to my list.  These aren't only for my family, I'm planning on taking a few with me for gifts as we travel this holiday season.

It occurred to me that when I started this blog, my main focus was fertility.  I realized recently that I haven't shared any updates about that part of our journey.  The main reason hasn't been to exclude anyone.  The plain and simple fact is there isn't any news.  I believe I mentioned before that we were told we have to wait until at least January to proceed with any IVF cycles.  After talking about it with Tony, it looks like we've decided to wait a little longer than that.  I really want to give a lot of the things that I've been working at a chance to work before we go forward with what may be our last cycle.  We've been told that to maximize the effect of the acupuncture, Chinese herbs, non-dairy diet (more on that little gem later), and yoga that we need to give ourselves at least 90 days to see results.  Some of these things I will have been doing longer than 90 days come February, I wanted to give them all the chance to work together for 90 days.

As for living dairy-free...that is becoming more and more of a challenge, especially with the holidays quickly approaching.  It's amazing how quickly dairy can creep back into your life.  I slip up once and think "it's okay, I will be back on track at the next meal."  Then when the next meal arrives, I end up telling myself "eh, you messed up earlier just go back to it tomorrow."  It's a wicked, wicked cycle.  I do have to say that for the most part in my day-to-day life I've been doing well at staying away from dairy products.   As for the next two weeks I'm going to do my best to be moderate.  I know that it would be unrealistic to think that I'll make it through Christmas and New Year's without consuming dairy.  And you know what?  That's okay.

Part of what Tony and I have been relishing about our decision to wait until February is how much stress it's taken off of us.  Stress we didn't even realize we were carrying.  It's so nice to just live our life together, enjoy being together and not worry about what step is coming next in planning this cycle or that cycle.  And, who knows - maybe this is the key to our success?  Only time will tell.  Either way, we're definitely feeling like we're living healthier and we're loving it!