Our Fun Weekend

It's been a long weekend. Friday night I was pretty beat, since I was up with Boots since 5am. She decided that was a good time to wake up. So I snuck her into the spare room and tried to get her to go back to sleep with me ... but no go. She was up, and just wanted to chit chat and watch Tigger and Pooh. So I made it through work on Friday ... and I couldn't get to sleep fast enough that night.

Saturday she was up again at 5am. Lucky for me, it was my turn to sleep in, and DH's turn to get up with them. So he was up from 5am on ... I ended up sleeping in until like 8am, which doesn't seem like much, but it was!! Especially considering I went to bed at like 10pm the night before.

We went to music class on Saturday, and ran a few errands, and then came home and put the kids down for a nap. Boots took a good 2.5 hour one, and so did DH. Once everyone woke up, we got ready for my cousin's halloween party. We did a family costume ... I was Wilma Flintstone, DH was Fred, and the twins were Pebbles and Bam Bam ... they were so cute. I'm really annoyed right now, because I have pictures to share with you, and shutterfly is not working!! Blech! And to make matters worse, I didn't get one picture of the 4 of us together! But my cousins did, so hopefully they can forward some over so I can post them! The party was fun, if not certainly chaotic ... there were a LOT of kids there! Here's a few pics I snapped of the family before and during the party.

Lady Boots looking cute as little Pebbles Flintstone.



Mr Moop being a super cute Bam Bam Rubble.



Now, the kids are also going to be Eeyore and Piglet at daycare on Friday for Halloween. We found the cosumes in our basement a few weeks ago. My cousin has triplets that are exactly 4 years older than the twins. So she had given me a whole bunch of stuff, and we found Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet costumes. So cute! Here are a few pics from us trying the costumes on.

The Sweetest Piglet you have ever seen.



And look at this Eeyore. Seriously, he is a chubby Moop.



DH and I played Rock Band 2 Saturday night for a few hours, and then off to bed I went. Only to be woken up by that Boot at 5am again. Seriously, this crap is getting old.

My parents and sister and Ant came over on Sunday for the day, my mom brought her homemade sauce and meatballs and sausage. It was super delish, and we all ate a lot like piggies. The kids were beyond adorable as they proudly showed their support of the NY Giants. And they certainly were lucky helping the Giants win the game!



Finally, DH brought Halloween cupcakes for dessert the other night. Here is the main difference between my kids. Look at my dainty little lady eating a cupcake. She kept putting one finger in the icing and eating very sweetly.



Her brother on the other hand? Not so much.



Enjoy!
Caba

Shutter.fly sucks

I want to put up a new post. I want to have one with tons of pictures from the Halloween party we went to this weekend. But Shutter.fly isn't working, and I'm annoyed. It's not working today, it wasn't working yesterday. And I'm pissed. So that's that.

In lieu of that, you will get me doing a meme that I like and have seen on a bunch of other blogs. Here's the rules:

A) Go to Music Outfitters.

B) In the search function, enter the year you graduated from high school. Get the list of the 100 most popular songs of that year.

C) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate, and underline or italicize your favorite. Do nothing to those you don’t remember or don’t care about.

1. End Of The Road, Boyz II Men
2. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix A-lot
3. Jump, Kris Kross
4. Save The Best For Last, Vanessa Williams
5. Baby-Baby-Baby, TLC
6. Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton
7. My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), En Vogue
8. Under The Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. All 4 Love, Color Me Badd
10. Just Another Day, Jon Secada
11. I Love Your Smile, Shanice
12. To Be With You, Mr. Big
13. I'm Too Sexy, Right Said Fred
14. Black Or White, Michael Jackson
15. Achy Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus
16. I'll Be There, Mariah Carey
17. November Rain, Guns N' Roses
18. Life Is A Highway, Tom Cochrane
19. Remember The Time, Michael Jackson
20. Finally, CeCe Peniston
21. This Used To Be My Playground, Madonna
22. Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough, Patty Smyth
23. Can't Let Go, Mariah Carey
24. Jump Around, House Of Pain
25. Diamonds and Pearls, Prince and The N.P.G.
26. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, George Michael and Elton John
27. Masterpiece, Atlantic Starr
28. If You Asked Me To, Celine Dion
29. Giving Him Something He Can Feel, En Vogue
30. Live and Learn, Joe Public
31. Come and Talk To Me, Jodeci
32. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
33. Humpin' Around, Bobby Brown
34. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover, Sophie B. Hawkins
35. Tell Me What You Want Me To Do, Teven Campbell
36. Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg, TLC
37. It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, Boyz II Men
38. Move This, Technotronic
39. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
40. Tennessee, Arrested Development
41. The Best Things In Life Are Free, Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson
42. Make It Happen, Mariah Carey
43. The One, Elton John
44. Set Adrift On Memory Bliss, P.M. Dawn
45. Stay, Shakespear's Sister
46. 2 Legit 2 Quit, Hammer
47. Please Don't Go, K.W.S.
48. Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes), Mint Condition
49. Wishing On A Star, Cover Girls
50. She's Playing Hard To Get, Hi-Five
51. I'd Die Without You, P.M. Dawn
52. Good For Me, Amy Grant
53. All I Want, Toad The Wet Sprocket
54. When A Man Loves A Woman, Michael Bolton
55. I Can't Dance, Genesis
56. Hazard, Richard Marx
57. Mysterious Ways, U2
58. Too Funky, George Michael
59. How Do You Talk To An Angel, Heights
60. One, U2
61. Keep On Walkin', CeCe Peniston
62. Hold On My Heart, Genesis
63. The Way I Feel About You, Karyn White
64. Beauty and The Beast, Calms Dion and Peabo Bryson
65. Warm It Up, Kris Kross
66. In The Closet, Michael Jackson
67. People Everyday, Arrested Development
68. No Son Of Nine, Genesis
69. Wildside, Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch
70. Do I Have To Say The Words?, Bryan Adams
71. Friday I'm In Love, Cure
72. Everything About You, Ugly Kid Joe
73. Blowing Kisses In The Wind, Paula Abdul
74. Thought I'd Died and Gone To Heaven, Bryan Adams
75. Rhythm Is A Dancer, Snap
76. Addams Groove, Hammer
77. Missing You Now, Michael Bolton
78. Back To The Hotel, N2Deep
79. Everything Changes, Kathy Troccoli
80. Have You Ever Needed Somone So Bad, Def Leppard
81. Take This Heart, Richard Marx
82. When I Look Into Your Eyes, Firehouse
83. I Wanna Love You, Jade
84. Uhh Ahh, Boyz II Men
85. Real Love, Mary J. Blige
86. Justified and Ancient, The KLF
87. Slow Motion, Color Me Badd
88. What About Your Friends, TLC
89. Thinkin' Back, Color Me Badd
90. Would I Lie To You?, Charles and Eddie
91. That's What Love Is For, Amy Grant
92. Keep Coming Back, Richard Marx
93. Free Your Mind, En Vogue
94. Keep It Comin', Keith Sweat
95. Just Take My Heart, Mr. Big
96. I Will Remember You, Amy Grant
97. We Got A Love Thang, CeCe Peniston
98. Let's Get Rocked, Def Leppard
99. They Want EFX, Das EFX
100. I Can't Make You Love Me, Bonnie Raitt

Wow! How is it that I have no idea what half of these songs are? I guess I was too busy listening to GOOD music ... most of which is NOT listed here. Oh well, Baby Got Back could be the best song ever!

Caba

I've been tagged!

So Ginny over at Mom of 2 Dancers tagged me. I think I've done this one before, but I'll do it again. The hard part is coming up with 7 facts!

The rules are:
1. To link the tagger and provide the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Ok ... here we go:

1. I am voting for Obama. In the past, I've considered myself a Republican. I'm embarrassed to admit I voted for GWB. Please don't hurt me. But I just can't vote Republican year. I just can't. I don't love Obama. Neither of these candidates are my dream candidates, but Obama is more in line with how I feel. He's made me want to be a better person, to be my brother's keeper, and take help take care of this world for my children. So he gets my vote, in a state that would go to him anyway, but I don't care, I'm voting.

2. I wish I lived in CA so I could vote No on Prop 8. I have never in my life heard a good reason for being against gay marriage. NEVER. And please don't tell me because it's in the Bible, because I will refer you to #3 on my list. But it's not a good reason. I don't understand why gay marriage being legal would in any way threaten the sanctity of marriage. Because it's not like us heterosexuals are doing so great in the marriage thing. It's discriminatory, and I honestly don't understand how anyone can think it's ok to offer up a certain set of rights to themselves, but not to someone else of a different sexual orientation.

3. I'm an atheist. I intend on raising super adorable baby atheists as well. So at least we will all end up in hell together.

4. I love the Counting Crows, and me and DH are going to see them next week in concert. I'm super excited.

5. I have no close girlfriends from college. All of my girlfriends I met in high school. When I went away to college, I was friends with girls, but none of them stayed apart of my life. But I still talk to my 4 best guy friends from college (and I married one of them!)

6. As much as I bitch about New Jersey, I love living here. I love the change of seasons, I love the location, to close to NYC, so close to the beach. I love the fast pace of the lifestyle and the people. I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else.

7. Me and my sister are obsessed with thumbs. She is going to laugh when she reads this. I don't really know how to explain it, but there are certain thumbs we dislike. And that's all I can really say about it, because there isn't a good way to explain.

8. I'm adding another one because it's my blog, and I can. Although it's not much of a secret. I love my sister. She's my best friend, and I honestly so excited to start this journey with her. I hope I do her proud, I really do.

On the surrogacy front, as soon as I get my period, I start my BCPs. Isn't it funny how an IVF cycle always starts with birth control pills? Sooooo ironic.

Ok, now I have to tag 7 people. I'm going to follow Ginny's lead and tag 7 new blogs that I'm just reading for the first time via ICLW.

Our Surrogacy Adventure
BagMomma
Sticky Feet: Part Deux
Who Shot My Stork?
Kicking You From The Inside
Bee in the Bonnet
Maybe it's just me ...

Caba

ICLW

So, it's the beginning of ICLW and I figured it would probably help to give a quick background to any newcomers to my blog.

I'm Caba. I'm 34, and have been happily married to my DH for 5 years (in December). We started TTC about a year later, and nothing happened. After a year of trying/testing, we found out we had a whole slew of issues, and IVF/ICSI was the road we were going to have to go down. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have been successful on our first cycle. Two embies in, two babies out. That would be our little lady, Boots, and our little gentleman, Mr Moop. They are 18 months and nothing but trouble. But wonderful trouble.

This blog was never a ttc blog. I started it after the twins were born. It has slightly morphed into being a little bit about me, but mostly about the kids. It's going to go through another morphing again, as I start the next very very exciting journey of my life.

My sister is my best friend and one of the most important people in my life. I talk to her every single day, and see her almost every day. Although I know that when she stops by every day it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Boots and the Moop. Regardless of that, my sister has had a bit of a journey. The details will be hazy, as it's not my story to tell. But she has been dealing with infertility for a long time as well. But recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully it was found early and she will be fine. But her cancer was estrogen driven, and she still needs to go through radiation. So when all is done, her doctors all agree that she should never get pregnant. This is where I come in.

I have offered to be a gestational carrier for her and her husband. They honored me by agreeing. We are starting this amazing journey and all very excited. They will be doing a fresh IVF cycle with her eggs and her husbands sperm, and I'm just offering up a uterus for nine months, give or take. We had our "All Day" at the clinic today and things look really good. Looks like we will be cycling late November/ Early December. So this blog will turn into a lot of the surrogacy story.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you continue to check in!

Caba

Sweet Silence ...

What a nice weekend we had. I hate when it ends. Work stinks. Friday night I went to a jewelry party. It was mellow, not too many people there. Ate some yummy apps, bought some jewelry, and went home. My LOVELY husband allowed me to sleep in on Saturday. Then me and my sister took the kids to music class and out to lunch.

As soon as they woke up from their nap, we packed up all their stuff, and brought them over to Grandma and Opa's house! YEAH! My parents love keeping them for the night, and we love to get rid of them! Awww, I'm teasing! But everyone loves a quiet house! We dropped them off around 4pm, and came home to relax for a while before heading out to my friend Michele's for a dinner party. It was a really nice time ... There were four couples, everyone made (or bought) something, and we just drank and ate like piggies and just relaxed. Michele shipped her son out for the night too, so it was nice for us not to be worried about having the get up early with the kids.

Here is a pic of me and Joan relaxing after the fat meal!


We got home around midnight, and I woke up at 9am to a completely quiet house. It was SO nice. We went out to breakfast, went to Best.Buy and bought Rock.Band 2! Woo hoo ... we'll have to play that later this week. Then we lounged in bed and watched tv and watched the Giants before going to my parents around 4pm.

The kids were really happy to see us ... and it's amazing how much we missed them in a 24 hour period. Crazy. It really is. Here is a cute pic I snapped of the Moop at my parents, and a picture of Hailey chillin' on her rocking horse.



And a quick update on the gestational carrier-to-be front. Things are moving along great! We have what they call an "All Day" at our clinic this Tuesday. Me and DH and my sis and her husband have to go all day, and meet with doctors and psychologists and I have to go through a bunch of tests and stuff. The contract is done, and we just need to sign it and get it in.

It's really going to happen, and I'm beyond excited. I'm so honored that my sister is trusting me with such a huge thing, and I only hope I can do her and her husband proud. I'll keep you updated after the All Day to let you know of the cycle schedule. It's so crazy. Yeah!

Caba

Busy Weekend ...

What a beautiful weekend it was here!! We had a really fun filled weekend. Saturday we went to the Philadelphia Zoo and met up with some mommies from the Twinstuff. It was such a gorgeous day, and the kids really enjoyed it! They especially loved the monkeys and the duck pond and the petting zoo. Here's a big gorilla that Boots liked.


Here's a cute pic of the Boots staring into the camera.


And my handsome dude!


The kids were really good at the zoo, but passed out as soon as we got in the car. Unfortunately now that the car seats are facing forward and not as reclined, the nap didn't last very long. So they had like a total of 30 minute nap. By the time we got home, it was too late to put them down. We even tried, but they wouldn't fall asleep. But they handled it well, but passed out quickly at bedtime.

Then on Sunday we went pumpkin picking with my friend Michele, her husband, and her son Michael, who is a month younger than the twins. It was fun. The kids loved seeing all the pumpkins, and kept yelling "Whoa!" every time they saw a bunch of pumpkins. We picked some little pumpkins, spent some time at the petting zoo, and conked out again on the ride home.

Here's Boots picking her pumpkin out of the patch.


And Mr Moop checking a pumpkin out.


Here's a cute one of me and kids. Boots' face is just precious! It's her "Are you kidding me??" look ...


And here she is, showing her cute smile!


And here she is again, with Daddy.


Later Sunday night we went to my parents for dinner. I got this great picture of my sister, her husband and the Moop cuddling.


So, I know I mentioned about my sister's cancer diagnosis. She has finished with her lumpectomy and is going to be starting her follow up treatment in the upcoming months. She will have to do radiation and medication, but we aren't sure about chemo yet.

But more excitingly, I might be lucky enough to give her and her husband a very very special gift. Because her cancer was estrogen driven, she can't ever get pregnant. But I can. For her. With her genetic child and me as the gestational carrier. I'm so excited I can't even talk about it.

But I had to share.

Caba

18 months

So, I guess when I wasn't paying attention, my babies turned 18 months old! What the heck happened to those little tiny peanuts? Now they run around the house like crazy troublemakers!

18 month stats:

Mr Moop
Weight - 29lbs 15oz (91%)
Height - 35 inches (97%)
Head - 19 (65%)

Boots
Weight - 23lbs 5oz (35%)
Height - 33 1/2 inches (93%)
Head - 18 1/4 (45%)

We totally grow tall kids! I'm about 5'9'' and DH is 6'1'' so I guess it makes sense. Besides that, they got their flu shots, and DTAP shot, and are doing well. Lots of words, lots of understand. It's really cool to see how much they grow and change, and so quickly.

I am totally sick, and have been for a while now. I have this sucky cold that I just can not kick. Thankfully my family just ROCKS and my sister and her husband were over all day Sunday hanging out and then last night my mom, bro and sis took the kids out to dinner so DH and I could relax cause I just felt SO crappy after work. Ugh. I really need this to go away. We are supposed to be meeting up with some members off my twin site this weekend for a Philly Zoo day and I don't want to have to miss it.

So, without futher ado, PICTURES! Here is Ms Boots with Grandma


and Mr Moop laughing at Uncle Ants goatee


Aunt Chrissy brought over some cupcakes from Costco ... holy crap were they good! They were freakin' enormous! So we split one between the kids, and needless to say, they really liked them!



And here's a picture I love of Mr Moop with his cool shades on.


And Boots trying to bust into my bedroom ...


As you can tell from my pictures, Moops hair is out of control. I love it. I honestly do not want to cut it yet. Obviously I will have to. Eventually. But not now. It is funny when we give them a bath though. He has SO much hair. For your viewing pleasure ... Moop, prior to having his hair wet ...


Here is Daddy after sculpting Moops hair into a shark fin.


And after rinsing his hair. Look how long it is, as it hangs over his shoulder.


Enjoy,
Caba

Yeah, Yeah, I got more pics for you ...

I've been slacking on updating, and I've been getting complaints. So, without further ado, more pics!

Sept 23rd was my sister's birthday, and Sept 24th was my Dad's. We had a little b-day celebration at my parents house ... and of course the kids were loved on like crazy. Here is Boots with her favorite Aunt Chrissy!


We keep getting notes coming home from daycare saying that we need to send in a family picture. And I keep forgetting! So we finally got a semi-nice shot. Damn Boots for not just looking at the camera!!!


Did I tell you all about my vampire child?? I can't remember ... I don't think I put it here. I went to daycare last week (or two weeks now) and when I was picking the kids up, there were accident reports for me to sign. I read Boots' first. It said "Boots was playing by the treehouse at 1045am with a friend when she leaned over and bit her friend. We taught her to use nice touches." Um, crap. Then I read Moops' report. "Moop was playing by the treehouse at 1045am with a friend when the friend leaned over and bit him. We taught his friend to use nice touches."

Ok, great. So Boots bit Moop! LOVELY! And the teacher wouldn't tell me! She just smiled and said they aren't allowed to tell who did what to whom. Well, it wasn't their teacher actually who said that, it was the director of the place. The teacher later told me that obviously it was Boots that bit Moop. I wasn't too stressed about it, as they are known to fight with each other. But then a few days later I got a report that she bit 3 (YES THREE!) kids at daycare. So then I was stressed!! I don't want to have that damn kid at daycare that is biting people! I talked with her teacher, and she said she is shadowing her, just watching really closely, to make sure she doesn't continue the behaviour. But she said she noticed a lot of drooling, and that Boots has new teeth coming in. So maybe she is having oral issues.

Thankfully, since the 3-bite day, she hasn't done it anymore. So now when I go to pick her up, I ask the teacher "How was my little vampire today?" They laugh at me. Thankfully, she seems to be over her short biting phase. Ugh.

On a happy note, they now say CHEESE! for the camera! Here is Boots and Moop yesterday practicing their new skills!


And just to show you that they have aced it, here's some from this morning!


And I had to include this picture, because it just made me laugh. Moop looks like he is auditioning to play Frankenstein, and Boots is auditioning for a vampire. These kids are nuts!


And lastly, I've been reading Twilight, and really enjoy it. Who doesn't love a good Vampire romance? Like mother, like daughter. Maybe she was looking for some good vampire tips? I hope it's not because of this book that she started biting at daycare!


Enjoy,
Caba