Welcome ICLW'ers!

Allow me to introduce myself if you've never been to my blog before....  I am Annissa (or Annissa Rae/Nissa Rae) ...   I have been married for almost 5 years to a WONDERFUL man... Dennis.  He's an amazing father and he took on a ready made family.  I was married before, for 10 years... had two boys during that marriage, my moody teen, and my miracle Noah who has a rare genetic disorder.  I was told he wouldn't live and would die just after birth if he did....  he was born 1lb 12oz and beat the odds!  You can read his amazing story above, there is a tab with his story.  He recently broke his nose, you can read all about that here: ANOTHER BROKEN BONE and here: NOAH'S SURGERY ....

During my divorce I was SURE that I would never find a man, I was used, abused, and had two kids - who the hell would want me?  I suffered secondary infertility and had to fight five years to get Noah with fertility drugs (Clomid) ... and I had 11 miscarriages at that point, all early .. mostly between 4 and 6 weeks, and one at 11 weeks.  Especially since taking me on, meant taking on a kid with ADHD and one with medical issues ... who's Dad would be generally out of the picture for a long time.

But I did meet someone, someone who is amazing, who didn't care if I had kids with medical issues... who I gave full discloser with ...  I would eventually want marriage, and felt I wanted more kids.... at least one more.... and I wouldn't be SETTLED FOR the way I was in my first marriage.... at least, that's how I felt in my first marriage... he took us all on .... and has loved us ever since..

We started haphazardly trying for a baby and to my utter shock, I got pregnant right away.  Very quickly, I noticed that Nathan's pregnancy was mimicking Noah's.  I was concerned, my Dr. told me not to worry, odds were outrageous it would happen again.   But the similarities continued.  I was scared.  But the amnio came back - genetically perfect....  nothing to worry about....  but the 20 week ultrasound warranted a phone call.  "You have fibroid tumors in your uterus, the baby has a two vessel cord, and he also has a cyst in his brain."   Yet I was told "don't worry" ...   (rolling eyes) ...  Nathan came along at 3lbs 4oz (almost full term) ...  very small... and he continues to be.  Through the years, different things that have come along.  he has a closed high soft cleft palate, he has hypothyroidism, he has autism and sensory issues, he has Russell Silver Syndrome, which is a type of primordial dwarfism...  there are other things thrown in there too... but that's my little man who at the age of 4 is 24lbs and 35inches .... (Nathan's story is under the "Noah Story Continues/Nathan's Story" tab above) ...

Then when Nathan was 6 months old, we decided to roll the dice one more time.   I ended up having a miscarriage on our first anniversary and got pregnant 2 weeks later with Kaedyn.  He was full term and healthy!

All together I've had 14 miscarriages......and struggled through 10+ years of trying to get and stay pregnant.

You can read MORE OF MY ICLW WELCOMES too....  information varies in each one.... depending on my mood...  there is also a list of my highlight posts on the side, some are funny, some are serious...  check them out too!  I've also been posting RECIPES - more recently of stuff we're trying and what not.... 

Let's do something fun!  Let's ask a few questions, just for fun...

1: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
2: What is one thing you want to happen this year that hasn't yet!? (for those of you TTC, getting pregnant doesn't count, think of something else!) 
3: If you could be REALLY good at one thing, and it come so easily, what would it be?
4: Who is your favorite author and why?

My Answers:
1: I would love to go a lot of places: Ireland for me ... and Norway too.  Heritage reasons and they are breathtaking places.  Italy for my husband, again for heritage reasons and I think of the photography ... beautiful!!  I would love to go to Alaska and Hawaii ... just because....  and last, I want to take my kids to Disney before they are to old.  (Really running out of time with my oldest!)

2: Win the lottery!?  Mostly I just want our lives to stable out .... that would be amazing.

3: Cooking ... that's my husbands talent!  Even though I love the fact that he can cook and does 90% of the cooking in our house for our family, I have an obsession with collecting recipes... I love recipes and I wish I could make them sing the way other people do. 

4: My favorite is Nora Roberts (also known as J.D. Robb) ... When I was in highschool my favorite author was Christopher Pike (amazing teenage novels) ... and Lurlene McDaniel (heart-wrenching stories) .. I loved them both.  I swore I would NEVER read smut books (aka Romance novels) ..  never say never... one day while at the used book store, I was looking for a book that sparked my interest ... I came across one entitled CHARMED ... it was the middle book to one of her series, but at the time I didn't know that...  I read the back, and it really sparked my interest ... it's about an Irish witch and her romantic journey with her single father neighbor....  I had to get it on principal...   I read it, and fell completely in love.  I found the other two books, read them.... and then I wanted more... this has turned into an obsession with collecting her books.  I have a few autographed ones, am only missing a few of her very early novels... of both her Nora Roberts books AND the J.D. Robb ones...  she writes romantic mysteries ... and the J.D. books are a series with the same characters (all 30+ books) ... about a homicide detective set in the future ... it's a really good series, didn't think I'd like it, but it's amazing. 

Random Facts about me: I write (novels, short stories, poetry) ... I am a photographer - started my own business, after we moved I just haven't picked it back up, but I plan to ... decided to go back to school first, going to get a "Certificate in Proficiency" in Photo Manipulation ... so it's put off again but I'm still doing photos...  I looooove nature photography, I'm so much better at that then portraits .. lol...  I have to give my son a daily injection of human growth hormone....  I have 7 + books started, I finished 2 books in my teenage years, and have finished one I would considered getting published...  I worked on from the time I was 13, to about 25 ...   I love the show Gilmore Girls, it's my all time favorite show, prior to Gilmore Girls, it was X-files....  now, Castle and Rozzoli & Isles & Bones are all fighting for the position off favorite...  I have a million favorite movies, I'm pathetic ... Ever After, Practical Magic, The Back-Up Plan, Titanic, Tomb Raider, National Treasure.... and many more...

Okay - this boring entry is done...