Belated Holiday Recap

This is obviously long overdue, so I'll spare you too many details and leave the enjoyment in the photos themselves.

Kisses from Gaga on Thanksgiving.
We were obviously cheering hard for our Buckeyes against MICHIGAN! 

Muck Fichigan!

Wonderful great-grandparents, Mimi and Papa, with Gracie on Turkey Day weekend.

Kisses for the biggest Buckeye of all, Papi.

And more kisses for Grace's long lost girlfriend, Lyla Rose,
during a get-together at Carrie's parent's house.
So fun!

My wonderful mama friends reunited at last!

"Decorating" (or eating) Christmas cookies at the Mark's house with Miss Jane! 

Our fabulous playgroup before we left for Chicago!
We attempted to decorate ornaments at the O'Lynnger's house with the kiddos.
This is Grace with her buds Brady, Harper and Cameron :)

Seeing boyfriend Brayden for the first time in forever!
Amazing how fast time flies. Last time they were together was around 4-5 months old.  

My beautiful Buckeye ladies!
Thanks again for having us over Meg - such a fun night catching up!
We miss you guys. 

Haha love it.

Say CHEESE! :)

Love of my life.

My best girls. 

Oh Christmas tree...
Our first decorated tree in the Mitten.

"I'm supposed to open this? I'd rather use it as chair."
An early Christmas morning in our house!

Our first baby, Kingston. 

Santa thoroughly enjoyed his milk and cookies that Grace and I decorated!

My heart.

And the stockings were stuffed by the chimney with care....

Grace was obviously on the good list this year. 

Actual Christmas morning at the Livingston house! 

Beautiful tree in my home sweet home.

King got a new bear this year since his old one FINALLY bit the bullet :(
Couldn't believe he managed not to destroy old Mr. Bear for nearly three years - pretty impressive!

Annual photo tradition with the sisters / Grace's aunties on our stairs.
We've done this since birth... seriously.

"A bop bop ATTACHED to a shopping cart?! This is AWESOME!" - Grace's reaction.
Unfortunately she thought she could fit in the mini bop bop as well... not so much.

New sparkly Toms for baby girl.

Thanks Auntie Tooks and Auntie Lolo!
We've been hearing "naaaaay!" and "moo" nonstop thanks to Grace's new farm :)

Our little girl is finally taking steps - hooray!

Crazy tot.

We're so in love.

Much better :)

Gaga getting some love.

Cute, festive outfit from Nana!
Christmas at the Ullrich house.

Newest addition to the family - little Miss Nellie!
Cutest pup on earth. I miss her already... and you two of course :) 

Smooches.

Grace and Nellie were best buds.

Carolyn and cuteness!

Daddy and more cuteness. 

"You mean I have more gifts to open? Ok, cool." - Gracie Mack 

Grace sporting her new Jordans! She's so fly.
Thanks again Auntie Jess and Uncle Aaron!

The final missing piece to Grace's new kitchen! Woohoo!

Nana showing her how its done.

Beautiful couple.

Another pretty tree... bare after all our gift opening!

My favorite parents-in-law :) 

Nana giving her beautiful new coat a test run - looking good lady!

Kisses for Nelly from Auntie Kels.

A recent visit from my dear, expecting friend, Lindsay!
This was sadly the only photo we got from our wonderful day together.
So fun catching up, and getting to see her beautiful belly
due in April. Thanks again for visiting you two!

Thanks again to both our families and our amazing friends, both old and new, for an incredible holiday season! We are super blessed. I have a good feeling about the year 2013, and can't wait for the memories to come. Stay posted!

Moving Forward

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, 

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope 

and a future." 

-Jeremiah 29:11

I miscarried. 

Again.

However, thanks to my faith and verses such as above, I feel strong enough to finally write about what we've been through (glass of wine in hand... of course). 

I like to consider myself a fairly optimistic and positive person. And for those of you that know me,  I think you would agree. With that said, writing about something that was obviously extremely devastating for both Zach and I, and both our families, is less than ideal. I didn't feel right, however, moving forward with the joyous moments in our lives and Grace's latest milestones without acknowledging the past few months... And the tiny beautiful baby of ours that is now in Heaven. I'm praying that despite the heartbreak I'm feeling at the moment forcing myself to relive what we went through, telling our story will be a therapeutic step in bringing closure and moving forward. 

We received a call earlier this week from my OB regarding test results from the D&C I had done in December. Our baby had a chromosomal abnormality known as Turner's Syndrome. This was obviously bittersweet news to both Zach and I. Hearing a "reason" the miscarriage occurred both comforted and tormented me. For those that have never heard of this condition, Turner's Syndrome means that one copy of the X chromosome is found missing or significantly altered. A normal healthy person is born with two sex chromosomes - either XX (meaning girl) or XY (meaning boy). A baby with Turner's has only one X, meaning it only affects girls.... cue the torment. Turner's Syndrome affects 1 in every 2500 pregnant women with a 98% chance of miscarrying at some point in their pregnancy. There is no genetic issue involved that causes Turner's - it is a completely random and sporadic event that is extremely unlikely to ever occur again. 

Deep breath.

My only comfort found in this news was that it wasn't my fault. My two diet cokes, my moving our couches to fit our Christmas tree in our tiny living room, or the violent period of illness I went through (and lack of a flu shot) were absolutely not the reason our baby's heart stopped beating. Our baby was taken up to Heaven for a reason entirely out of our control. As with all things in life, this was in God's hands. While I still struggle with the "why" factor... why me AGAIN?... why this baby?... why not let this baby defy the odds and be in that 2%?... I'm trying to find peace in the fact that God knows what He is doing. I have faith in His plans for our family.. and I believe with all my heart that our little family of three will absolutely grow when the time is right. We just need to have patience.

Thank you to all those who supported, loved, thought and prayed for us this past month. I'm so sorry if I haven't gotten back to each one of your kind e-mails or messages. Please know your love has meant the world to us, and I promise once Grace's toddler tantrums / random meltdowns, mischievousness and lack of naps finally cease... I will get back to each and every one of you :) 

In the meantime we are living in the moment.... loving our beautiful, healthy, intelligent, sassy little Grace Mack, spending time with our wonderful family and friends... both old and new. We are so incredibly blessed and thankful.... 

And finally ready to move forward.

An early Christmas gift...

Our little Gracie is going to be a....

BIG SISTER!

And here's the proof... potentially the 10th stick I tested out.

Officially 8 weeks today at our ultrasound, and due July 1, 2013!

Obviously hard to tell (as usual), but baby #2 is the small blob on the top left :)

We're overjoyed to finally tell our family and close friends the exciting news, and can't wait to be finally be a family of four (or five counting King of course). Please keep our family, and especially our little growing blueberry, in your thoughts and prayers these next several weeks and months to come. Still very early, but we couldn't be happier with the results of today's ultrasound and doctor report. Baby Ullrich #2 is looking perfect thus far, and we are certainly optimistic she or HE (ahh!) will stay that way :)

Lots of love, 

Zach, Britt, Grace and Kingston

Monster Mash

Halloween should come at least twice a year in my opinion. So. Much. Fun! We spent the hours before trick-or-treating taking photos, enjoying pizza and having a play sesh at the Olynnger's down the street. Grace (the scary pink monster) and Harper (the adorable moo-ing cow) couldn't have looked cuter together! I loved every second of the actual trick-or-treat part as well. Watching our confused kiddos confront multiple houses and take candy (that they more than likely couldn't eat) for the first time was a memory I'll never forget. Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!

"I hate the monster hat Dad! WHY do I have to wear it?!"  

"Oh ok. I can bop bop? Much happier now."

Happy monster!

Goofy girl...

Distraction was key in keeping the head piece on! 

"Wait... I just remembered it on my head! Ahhh!"

Loving being "sooooo big" on Dada's shoulders.

Monster kisses for Mom.

Grace and her gal pal, Harper. We were loving Harper's cheesy grin all night - so stinkin' cute! 

Monster meets cow...

And only appropriate to greet with a kiss! Haha. 

Just complimenting one another on their snazzy get-ups... 

And another kiss for good measure! :)

Smiley cow!

Lindsay, Harper, Gracie and I.

Mamas and their girls! 

Check out the awesome carved pumpkins next to them! Very impressive Olynnger fam!

"Ok.. I admit it.. the monster hat is WARM. Thanks Mom!" 

Girlfriends.

"Alright monster, I'm off to find candy! Time to move off that step..."

October Happenings

Due to my major slacking this past month, my post will (hopefully) be short and sweet highlighting only a few favorite October events!

On Friday October 5, Grace and I attended Disney on Ice at The Palace of Auburn Hills with our friends Tracy, Lauren and Lexi across the street. Not a feat I would've attempted alone, but Grace did much better than expected pointing when Mickey and Minnie made their way on stage and clapping and laughing appropriately. I was proud to say the least! Super cute show though that will be much more fun in a year or two.

The following week we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Uncle Brock and Carolyn! Of course it was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from having a fabulous weekend. After brunch at Commonwealth in Birmingham, lots of playing with Grace, a barbershop/cigar run for the boys and nail date for the girls, we ventured downtown to Streetside Seafood for dinner and Royal Oak for late night festivities. Definitely more fun than we had had in awhile! Thanks again for making the drive you two - so wonderful spending time together and Grace had a blast. 

Grace wearing the crazy, eskimo gear from Uncle Brock last Christmas - finally fits! :)

October 19-21 weekend was another crazy one! My parents and grandparents were kind enough to stay the weekend with Grace while Zach and I road-tripped to Columbus for the Ohio State vs. Purdue game. This was my first game since graduating, and Zach's first Big Ten game EVER. Couldn't have been a more exciting game either with OSU tying it up in the last minute and winning in overtime! We were pumped to say the least. Seeing E-beth and Eric's place for the first time was a huge highlight, and ridiculously fun tailgating and spending time with two of my favorite Buckeyes. Thanks again for hosting such an awesome weekend you two - we're still recovering! 

Awesome seats! Especially for the final few minutes.

On Saturday October 27 we had some new Spartan-cheering friends over to watch the MSU vs. Wisconsin game. The Marks recently welcomed a second beautiful little girl to the family named Elle, giving Grace and her buddy Jane a new playmate! Stacy and I met through Junior League and have loved getting our girls together these past few months. Jane is only a few months older than Grace. 

The girls were obviously very passionate about college football on this particular day...
or just on the brink of an evening meltdown. Not sure :)

Jane, Stacy, Grace and I!

Last but not least, we started our pre-Halloween activities with the Stowell's running the Wicked Halloween 5K in Plymouth. Super fun event that is sure to be an annual race for our families! Costumes were in full force. Grace even participated in the mayhem by busting out her monster costume a few days early. Great practice given the fit she made putting it on!

Carrie and I!

Our scary monster with the Dads sans head piece - not a popular item that morning...

Our remaining fall days were spent outside as much as possible. Our little girl is OBSESSED with her new hot pink car and says "bop bop" (aka "beep beep") every time we step foot outside in hopes to be pushed around the block. Very cute and obviously very hard to say "no" to. 

Stay tuned for more Halloween monster photos to come......