Round 3

I'm actually not going to blog about a boxing or wrestling match! I am starting round 3 of Clomid on Saturday. This past Friday I received a call from my doctor's office that my blood work looked really great! I had ovulated this month and my progesterone was a 40, which was doubled from last month. We were sooooo excited! The nurse told me that I shouldn't need a 3rd round of Clomid. Every time Michael walked by me he touched my stomach. He was so excited! I tested on Sunday and had a negative pregnancy test. In the back of my mind, I didn't believe it! I justified it by thinking maybe it was too soon to test. Well, I'm definitely not pregnant this month. We are sad, we are grieving and hurting....BUT we know that He has great plans for us! I am convicted lately because I've been doing a lot of praying, but am I praying with belief? Am I really praying in expectation that God does hear and answer? Am I praying fully trusting and believing that He is faithful? I want to be a believing prayer warrior! I don't want to doubt! Oh Lord, in our sadness, don't let us doubt, for You are faithful!

I feel like some day I will look back at this online journal and share it with my son or daughter about our journey so I decided to start writing to him/her.

Future baby McCracken!,

I want you to know how much we want you. I want you to know that we are longing and praying on our knees for you. I can't wait for you to grow in my tummy, even if you make me throw up every single day! I can't wait to feel you move and kick. I can't wait to buy you sweet baby clothes and toys! I am so excited about giving you a name. I am so excited about teaching you about Jesus. You are going to be a miracle baby! You are going to remind us of His faithfulness and goodness and mercy. How sweet it will be to finally hear those words, "you're pregnant!" We will love you so much! We can't wait to hold you in our arms! We can't wait to meet you!

I cannot say thank you enough to our prayer warriors. We know so many of you are praying for us and we are so incredibly humbled and thankful. Next blog, pictures of something not associated with Clomid, or negative pregnancy tests.....promise! :)

Enough

Jesus is!

"The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.

Praise the LORD."

Psalm 113:4-9

Clinging to the hope and promise of this Scripture in these months and days.

Disturb Us

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

[Sir Francis Drake]

Things that Make....

My Heart Glad!

I am so behind on blogging! So, I thought I would summarize some events as of late by just bringing up a few things that have made my heart glad lately! The Lord has a way of doing this in our lives by His grace and I am so thankful! So, here are some things that He has used to really make my heart glad recently!

• Going on a cruise with Michael's mom, aunt, and sisters that was an absolute BLAST!
• The trip included laughing so hard my stomach hurt...several times! Love it!
• Coming home this week to realize my husband had started dinner for me! :)
• Being overwhelmed by the Lord's presence in worship this morning...even though there were only about 25 people there this morning. Where 2 or more are gathered....!
• Getting a phone call from my brother that he is getting promoted to Sergeant in the Army. So proud of him!
• In the midst of feeling like I'm drowning in lesson planning, God blessed me with a really great group of 3rd graders!
• Getting a phone call from my Vice Principal during the week to check on me and let me know she's praying for me. Wow.
• Going on my first round of Clomid! Praying for a miracle. September is the 2 year mark of our struggle with infertility.
• The only side effect I've experienced from Clomid is hot flashes, not bad considering all of the possible ones! Answer to specific prayer!
• Signing up to do Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University through our church. So excited!
• Spending time with sweet friends at Starbucks, a Silver Stars game, and over dinner.
• San Antonio little league finishing 4th in the little league world series
• College football season is here!
• My husband is home when I get home since he's not coaching football this year! This was a HUGE God thing for this year!

Praise You Lord for the day-to-day ways You make my heart glad. I am humbled and thankful!

Summer & Update

Ok, so I've totally dropped the ball posting on our New York trip...and I'm not making any promises!  Since then I've been on a cruise with Michael's mom, sisters, and aunt.  We had an amazing time!  I'll have to post about that too...eventually.  I'm way behind and with school starting in a few weeks, I don't know that I'll ever catch up!  I'll post pics on facebook though!  

I can't believe that we only have one full week left before going back to work.  It has been a really great summer.  I am so blessed to get to spend the summer with my hubby who is off too!

I am excited and nervous about starting the new school year.  Third grade will be a challenge for me, but I'm excited.  

In other news, I had a Dr. appointment today.  My Dr. is starting me on Clomid.  She officially told me today that I have "unexplained infertility."  Medically speaking, they cannot pinpoint what is going on with me.  They do think that I have some anovulatory cycles, meaning that some cycles I do not ovulate, but others I do.  Anyway, I am starting Clomid and praying!  I know that His will is going to be done and that all of this is on His kingdom calendar.  His timing is perfect.  I will keep you updated and am so extremely grateful for your prayers!   

The Big Apple

It has taken me forever to sit down and post about New York, so I'm going to do my best to get the trip "blogged" over the next few days!  

Day I

Our flight left San Antonio at 6:30 AM...arrived at the airport at 5.  Met Michael's parents to take us to the airport at 4:45...early!  

When we arrived in New York we went to get our bags and walked outside to catch a cab to the hotel.  We have never tried to "catch" a cab before.  There was a man standing in a suit and he asked if we needed a ride, so we said, "Yes."  He walked with us to the edge of the stre

et and said the driver was bringing a car around.  Weird....2 drivers?  Anyway, we wait and finally a black escalade, windows completely black, pulls up.  We are soooo trusting, so we got in this vehicle with these 2 men.  Michael had the route from the airport to the hotel pulled up on his phone and he was watching it carefully as we rode with these men who were taking us "fingers crossed" to the hotel!  I texted Michael as we rode and my text said, "if we get 

off course, give me the look and i'll open my door so we can jump out of the car!"  Fortunately, we didn't have to do that and later learned that these guys own a limo service.  In this eco

nomy, they are not getting much business so they decided to give rides in the escalade.  We made it to the hotel and were able to leave our bags with the front de

sk so we could head to the Yankees game.

We took the subway to Yankee stadium and arrived at the game in the 4th inning.  Yankee

stadium is gorgeous.  The field is gorgeous and the hot dogs were amazing!  :)  

The Yankees ended up losing, which was sad, but the experience was amazing.  There's nothing like a major league baseball game in the summer time!  (it helps when it's Yankee Stadium too!)  Michael was so excited and we both had a great time at the game.

After the game, we took the subway back to our hotel on Time Square and we were able to check in to our room.  The Crowne Plaza was super nice and we loved being right on Time Square.  Once we checked in, we decided to go walk around and just take everything i

n!  We were able to walk around Time Square and somewhat gain our bearings on where things were.  Time Square is amazing and pictures have never done it justice.  It is over stimulating for sure...all the lights, all the people....so much fun!  We went into the M&M store, which was HUGE and had more M&Ms one could possibly imagine!  After buying some peanut butter M&Ms we headed back out onto Time Square to try to figure out where to go for dinner.  

We were walking down the street and I spotted a restaurant called ESPN

Zone.  I immediately knew this is where we had to eat...I know, you are thinking WHY??!!  After our wedding, when we arrived at the Gaylord Texan and were starving, that is the place we ate! Since this was our anniversary trip, and I hadn't seen this restaurant anywhere else, I thought it would be fun to eat there and remember our first "married" dinner together!  The place is so cool and the view of Time Square was great!

I would totally post more pics, but I am having trouble...when I add a new one, it keeps deleting the ones I have already posted. Any tips on this would be great!  :)

Anyway, after the baseball game, our first day mostly included walking around Time Square! We were in awe!  We were really exhausted from a long day so we headed to bed and were eager to start Day II of our trip!

Joy of Summer!

I love summer!  We are having a great time off!  Last week we took a trip to Lubbock.  We hadn't been back since we moved 3 years ago...crazy, I know!  We stayed with Michael's aunt and uncle and had an amazing time hanging out with Job, Janis, Jeff, and Jennifer!  Thanks Buschmans for a great week!  :)   We also were able to meet Mailey Williams!  She is adorable.  Her mom, Melissa discipled me all through college and it was so amazing to be back in their home hanging out!  Thanks for letting me hang out with you and your family!  On Tuesday night, we were able to have dinner with some sweet friends at Buns Over Texas.  We so enjoyed getting to see Tim, Kailee, Jake, Amanda, Coby, Jennifer, and meet baby Camren!  We left Lubbock so refreshed.  We have so many sweet memories there and it was fun to revisit those memories.  

On Monday Michael and I are flying to New York!  Michael surprised me early for our 4th wedding anniversary with a trip to New York.  It has been my dream to go there!  We are sooo excited!  We know for sure we are going to a Yankees game and to see Wicked on Broadway.  Those are the only things we've bought tickets for and planned so far!  If you have any "must dos" to share with me, please do!  I know it's a huge city and we won't be able to accomplish everything in just 5 days!  Any pointers you may have would be so appreciated!  I will definitely blog about the trip when we get back (with pictures).  This is going to be a much needed get away.  I feel like I'm going on my 2nd honeymoon!  :)  

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and trying to stay cool!  It's so hot!