Fun Weekend!

So, this weekend was the East Coast Gathering for Twinstuff.com. What a blast! Saturday we attended the picnic, which took place about 45 minutes from our house, and was a big pot luck where everyone brought something, and we ate, and talked, and the kids got to run around and play, and there were water balloons, and really, it was just a blast. My parents came with us, as an extra helping hand, so that made it a lot easier on me.

Here are a few pics from the picnic:
Here is Lady Boots all dressed up ready to get in the car to drive to the picnic.


Boots playing with bubbles at the picnic


Moop have bubbles blown in his face


Group picture from the TS East Coast Gathering


The kids are pooped!


For the 2nd day of the TS Gathering, we all met up at Sesame Place for a fun day! Some of families stayed overnight in a local hotel between the picnic site and Sesame Place, but we were close enough to go home, and it was easier on the kids. It was the first time we brought the kids to Sesame Place, and they LOVED it! They were so excited to see all the characters and got their pictures taken with Bert and Ernie, and Cookie Monster and Telly. There weren't any big hugs given, they were a bit too nervous for that, but lots of high fives!

They loved the water rides, and Boots loved some of the little kid rides ... Mr Moop, on the other hand, was very nervous about the rides! He didn't want to go on anything that went up in the air. But there was a cool bouncy thing they loved, and they loved the new Counts Water World! The funniest thing was that I rented one of those electric motorized carts just incase I got really tired, I didn't want to walk around too much. haha. The kids wanted to ride with me ... and Moop really wanted to press the controls!

Here are the some pics from Sesame Place! There are a ton of pics if you click over to shutterfly from any of the pictures.
Here is Mr Moop and Opa on the carousel. He doesn't like the horses, just the bench! Boots, on the other hand, enjoyed riding on a hours with Grandma close by!




Here is Boots with Aunt Chrissy on an Elmo ride. She loved it!


Here is Moop with Daddy on the Elmo ride. He was VERY nervous about it!


Here are the twins in this fun bouncy area with big cushins that they loved. We had to drag them outta there!


Here is Mr Moop going down the water slide to Uncle Mark while Boots and Daddy are waiting for her turn!


And Boots' turn!


Here's Boots, Aunt Chrissy, Ernie, Bert, Moop and Daddy!


Here's Telly, Boots, Uncle Ant, Cookie Monster, Moop and Daddy!


Here's Moop and Boots chillin' in their wagon, waiting for the parade to start! Notice everyone is wearning their Twinstuff Purple Shirts! We all had them on to commemorate the day!


Here are Zoe and Elmo in the parade! The kids LOVE them!




They had a great time. So did we! We tried to forego naps, but that was not successful ... Moop actually feel asleep sitting up in his wagon around 3pm, so we decided it was time to go ... they slept most of the way home, but were royal pains in the butt the rest of the night. Oh well, it was all well worth it!

So, for any twin moms reading, or any newly pregnant twin moms, may I suggest heading over to Twinstuff.com? It's a great resource, regardless of the age of your children. And if you live close enough to the East Coast, you can join us for this weekend next year!

Enjoy,
Caba

IComLeavWe and Thoughts on Surrogacy

Hey ... I haven't done ICLW for a while, so I figured I would jump in again this month! Here's what it means (from Stirrup Queens): ICLW stands for International Comment Leaving Week, but if you say it aloud, doesn't it sounds like "I come; [but] leave [as a] we"? And that's sort of the point. Blogging is a conversation and comments should be honoured and encouraged. I like to say that comments are the new hug--a way of saying hello, giving comfort, leaving congratulations."

So, welcome to my blog, any new readers that have come for ICLW! A quick history of me ... I have 2 year old b/g twins born on April 5th, 2007, the beautiful products of love and IVF/ICSI. They are the light of my life, and the beloved thorns in my side!

I am also currently the gestational carrier of b/g twins for my amazing wonderful sister and her husband. My sister was diagnosed last summer with breast cancer, and just ended all her treatments! The twins are due Aug 22nd. We are super excited about their arrival, and I am honored to have been giving the opportunity to help make their dreams of having a family come true!

*******************************************************************************

Now, on the to the non-ICLW stuff. I've been thinking so much lately about this whole surrogacy thing. What an amazing journey it's been. It's been WAY harder than I anticipated ... probably because my only experience in pregnancy was WITHOUT any other children at home, so I think I anticipated it being easier than it is. It certainly does not help that my kids are fully engaged in the terrible twos, trying to kill each other, kill me, kill my husband, kill themselves, and kill any stuffed animals, toys, or books within their reach.

But on the days when I'm tired, or uncomfortable, I think about what it all means. Sometimes this whole situation just floors me! I am carrying my niece and nephew. Is there anyway that I could be closer to these kids? I am just so honored that I get to play this role in their lives. They are going to be blessed beyond belief with two parents that I personally believe are two of the most amazing people in the world.

Ya know, you hear a lot of crap in the media about surrogacy. And me and my sister joke that it's outsourcing at it's finest, and how she will look thin at her shower, and she can drink at her shower, and blah blah blah. But I would give anything to put these babies in her belly. And I'm guessing that every single mom who used a surrogate would have preferred to carry the babies herself. So I get so pissed when people talk about all the money that "these IPs (intended parents)" spend so that the mom doesn't have to get fat or get streth marks. I honestly never thought much about surrogacy before we were in this situation. Not that I ever had a problem with it, I think people should use whatever means they can to create the family they want. But it just wasn't something I thought would touch my life. I guess most of us don't think much about it when we start trying to get pregnant. Surrogacy just seems so far down the IF road ... ya know, maybe you try a little Chlomid. Move to IUI, and then IVI. But surrogacy? That's SO far away.

And then it wasn't. It was the ONLY option. And it's such a wonderful one. Maybe surrogates will disagree with me, and that's their right, but to me, the REAL heros in this journey are the IMs (intended moms). The women who give up the dream of carrying their baby so that they can HAVE a baby. I don't mean to take anything away from the Dads, they rock too, but they NEVER expected to carry a pregnancy. But the moms, well, we all DO expect to carry our babies. And to give it up, to put your trust in another person, with THE single most important thing in your life, well, that takes guts. And faith. And complete trust. Sure, the surrogate might deal with more of the day to day aches and pains, the physical ailments, but I don't think it can come close to what an IM deals with.

So, I would like to honor all your IMs today. YOU are my heros. You, who have given up so much, to gain so much. My sister, who is one of the strongest, most beautiful, most amazing women I know. Who faced her cancer treatment head on, with such a strong positive outlook. If only she could see herself as the same women that I see. My sister, who is going to be the most amazing mom to these two precious babies.

I think in this journey, too much focus has been put on me, and what a wonderful thing I've done, but really, I'm just being a sister. Not enough focus is put on what the IM has give up, what faith she has to hold on to, what trust she has to find, and what strength this entire journey takes. Surrogates are awesome, but it's the IMs that are getting my pat on the back today. You ladies are my heros. My sister is my hero.

Caba

Crazy 8's: I've been tagged ...

I've been tagged by FET Accompli! I love doing these things!

Rules: Mention the person that tagged you.
Complete the lists of 8’s.
Tag 8 blogger friends, go tell them you tagged them…

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Next week, when I start working from home 3 days a week!
2. Full Maternity leave so I can take a break from work
3. Giving birth to my sister's babies
4. Seeing the look on my sister and her husband's faces the first time they see their twins.
5. Enjoying being a new Aunt.
6. Warm weather
7. Vacationing in Aruba sans kids with my wonderful husband
8. Raising my kids with my sister raising hers, and enjoying the joys of twins together.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept in!
2. Spent too much time on Twinstuff.com
3. Went out for lunch with my husband for yummy Italian food.
4. Went to Toys R Us to buy a birthday gift, and got 2 puzzles for the twins.
5. Went to a birthday party for my cousin's 6 year old son
6. Gave the munchkins baths.
7. Caught up on tv shows with my husband
8. Fell asleep promptly after eating 3 cookies.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Have enough time to read all the amazing books I want to read
2. Find a cure for all kinds of cancers and other diseases (I'm keeping this the same as Fet Accompli's, cause I just gotta agree)
3. Move my friend Anne out of her country, and bring her here to the US to live next door to me.
4. Take care of all of the financial worries of my family
5. Gather up all my favorite Atheists (Love you AAA girls) and go on a much needed and much deserved trip together.
6. Make my sister's hair grow back in like 2 days, completely and fully. Cause I know how much she hates not having it.
7. Let my husband know just how appreciative I am of all that he does, and how much I love him. I try to tell him, but sometimes I feel like it's just not enough.
8. Ensure that my children are always happy.

8 Shows I Watch (For anyone who knows me, how the heck am I going to come up with only 8???
1. Survivor
2. Lost
3. The Office
4. 30 Rock
5. America's Next Top Model
6. Ghost Whisperer
7. Hell's Kitchen
8. American Idol

8 Favorite Fruits
1. Oranges
2. Strawberries
3. Raspberries
4. Banana
5. Grapes
6. Watermelon
7. Pineapple
8. Apples

8 Places I’d Like to Travel
1. Greece
2. Italy (I had to leave too early!)
3. New Zealand
4. Mexico
5. Fiji
6. Scotland
7. Maine
8. Canada

8 Places I’ve Lived
1. New Jersey
2. Pennsylvania
3. Umm, my parent's house?
4. College dorm
5. In a dream... I love my life, and sometimes I have to pinch myself to know it's actually this great.
6. Umm, I'm out of answers.
7. I guess I need to move to another place...
8. Oh, how about the state of confusion??

8 People I've Tagged
This is where I get lazy ... anybody who reads, go to town! Let me know if you do it so I can read along!

Thanks for reading!
Caba

I am sick of being sick

So much has happened since I last wrote. Boots and Moop had their first "performance" last Wednesday. Their daycare did a spring concert, and for the first time, their classroom (ages 2-2.5) was invited to participate. It was previously only the older kids.

It was super cute! They all marched on stage, and sang 3 songs. Boots had her back to the audience the whole time, as she was facing her teacher. Moop stood towards the back, but was dancing around and singing along! I was so proud. The pregnancy hormones had me all choked up!

Unfortunately, on that same night, I started to get sick. AGAIN. Another cold. Ok, not fun, but I can deal. Friday night, my wonderful sister/BIL and parents took the kids again. They take them all out to eat, and then they each take one for the night. As the night dragged on, I was SO tired, getting really stuffy, and just more miserable. I woke up Saturday morning still stuffy, but ok. DH got us some Dunkin' Donuts and we sat in bed to relax. I started to feel slightly nauseous. I took a shower and asked DH to make me an english muffin and an egg so that I could eat something not too heavy.

About 5 bites in I was running to the bathroom and throwing it all up. Ugh, looks like a stomach bug on top of a horrible cold. My family was going to bring the kids back to us around dinner time, but being the rock stars that they are, they kept them for another night so I could vomit in peace.

Ugh, I felt SO awful. I was just wrecked. It was one of those things where I couldn't even lift my head off the pillow. Luckily, I felt a little better on Mother's Day morning. DH gave me a beautiful card that made me cry, as well as got me tickets to see Hair on Broadway! Love that man. After resting all day, I decided to venture up to my sister's for a Mother's Day BBQ. I didn't eat much, but I wanted to spend a little time with my kids on Mother's Day. But when I got home, I threw up again. Lovely.

I did go to work on Monday, I felt ok in the morning and figured I would give it a shot going in. I also talked to my boss about my needing to slow things down a little. Starting next week (I'll be 26w2d) I will be working from home 3 days a week and going into the office 2 days a week. Then we will see how I do with this schedule. If I need to start working from home full time, they will be flexible with that. Either way, unless something happens that the doc pulls me out sooner, my last day of work will be June 26th. I'll be 32 weeks. Can't get here soon enough!!

Oh, and some WONDERFUL news! My sister had her final radiation treatment on Monday, and will be having her port removed tomorrow. So cancer treatment is OVER!!! I am so happy for her ... and now she can focus on these two little bubs that are about to take over her world!!

Pictures next time, I promise!
Enjoy,
Caba

Viability and a day at the park

So, I'm 24 weeks today. That marks viability, or so they say. I'm happy to meet the first of what I hope are many more milestones. I intend to stay pregnant for a much longer time though!

Not too much going on to talk about. I'm sorry I've been slacking with the updates. The kids are so great. They are just getting so big, and look so old to me. I can't take it! I saw my friends 5 week old, 8.5 lb baby, and all I kept thinking was "Wow. That's a small baby." And then I realized that both of mine were WAY smaller than that ... Boots left the hospital at less than 5 lbs! And yet, here I was, all awkward holding my friends baby. haha. I guess I've blocked out that time!

So, Moop still takes a binky. He loves it. He uses it for naps (on the weekends, not at daycare) and when he goes to bed at night. Boots doesn't care as much, but if Moop has one, she requests one. So I think it's time to get rid of them. I was going to wait until Christmas, and have them leave them for Santa ... but I think instead we are prepping them to give the binkies to Aunt Chrissy's babies. We've already started talking to them about it, and they are totally receptive. So now, if I ask them "Who are you going to give your binkies to?", Boots will answer "Sami!" and Moop will answer "Anthony!". And then I say "Does Moop need a binky anymore?" and he'll smile and say "Noooooo."

So I think our plan is once I give birth, DH will make a big game of gathering up all the binkies with the kids, bring them to the hospital, and then handing them off to the babies. At the same time, we will have a gift from the babies to Moop and Boots as a thank you for all the binkies. I really really hope it works!!

Besides that, we enjoyed a super nice weekend last weekend. We went to the park, but not before taking Moop for another hair cut. But this time, we went WAY short. Check out the new 'do.




The kids had fun at the park, playing on the slide, and blowing bubbles. But once they saw me drinking out of my water bottle, they vetoed their sippy cups, and only wanted to drink out of water bottles. So cute!





We had a lot of fun, and then we topped off the evening with a trip to Stewart's where they enjoyed hot dogs and fries (oh yeah, and we did too!)

I promise, I will try and update more!
Enjoy,
Caba