Memorial Day Camping Trip 2008

Finally as promised here are some pictures and an up date on our family's first camping trip. Chris mentioned that we went camping in Island Pond, VT which is about 40 minutes from the Canadian boarder. The weekend was cold, cloudy and it did rain a bit too. Although the weather was not always with us. We had fun spent time with family and the kids were able to experience their first nights in a tent, campfire, homemade ice cream, rocky mountain pies, nap in a camper and special time with cousin Heather and PJ.

This is our new tent. It can be divided into two rooms and with the right adaptor it can have electricity (We do not have the adaptor.)!

Cousin Heather is playing with Jordan while he is in his stroller and PJ is snuggling with Taylor. They love hanging with Cousin Heather and PJ and well I think the feeling is mutual. Because they could not come up for the Kids birthday. Heather and PJ got the kids Red Sox T shirts.
You can tell by the way the kids are dressed that it is a chilly evening by the fire. Cousin Heather and I hold our kids while we try to stay warm.

Say cheese! PJ is cheesing it up with Taylor.

On Sunday. Which was the Sunny day, we loaded up the van and the car and drove to Newport VT. We thought about zipping in to Canada for a bit, but we decided that we would wait for our next trip up North for that. For lunch we stopped at Wendy's where Heather and PJ volunteered to eat lunch with the kids.

Two handsome men in Wendy's. That's PJ and Jordan. You gotta love a guy who likes to hang out with babies.

Here is Auntie Cindy cheesing it up with Taylor. Taylor loved wearing Auntie Cindy's sunglasses.

After our trip to Newport we did a little shopping in Island Pond where we bought the kids some tevas. We then returned to the campsite and made two types of ice cream in an ice cream ball that we bought from LL Bean. We ate the ice cream Monday on our way home.

Although the weather could have been warmer we did have fun. Heather and I (Penny) also got a chance to plan our Orland trip. We can not wait.

Behind in blogging!

There is so much going on and I am not doing a great job of keeping up with the blogging. Here are some highlights, with a promise of more news and pics soon.

We took Jordan and Taylor camping (in a TENT!) over Memorial Day Weekend. We went to Island Pond in northern VT, near the Canadian border. It was COLD at night. The kids slept in their fleece hats and gloves! We were mocked by co-workers, who said, "You do know you're not in California anymore, right?" We went with Cindy and Brian (Penny's sister and brother-in-law) and Heather (our niece) and her boyfriend, PJ. They were all so helpful with the kids and it was so great to be with family. Another thing that was so great is that Cindy and Brian have a camper, so when it was cold, we could have the babies go in there to get warm. They took naps in the camper and it was so helpful. Thanks, guys! I will post some camping pics, soon. Overall, it was a lot more work than camping was pre-kids, but we had a lot of fun, too!

Both kids are walking now and that is a lot of fun. They are still doing what we call "the drunken robot" walk, taking unsteady steps with their arms outstretched. Very cute. Sleep is going well for the most part. We read to the kids a lot at night. Penny is reading them the Harry Potter books right now. She is about 1/2 way through Book 1.

The kids are transitioning to the toddler room at daycare. When did they get so big?

Jordan and Taylor are pros at drinking from sippy cups now. They eat well and enjoy tons of different foods. It is so great to be able to go to any restaurant, have them sit so well in high chairs, and be able to order them pretty much anything from the menu. It makes life so much easier to have to pack less in the diaper bag when you go out. They are also learning to drink from straws! Exciting!

We are really looking forward to a bunch of weekend trips over the summer. And the big vacation of the year will be a trip to Disney World in Florida in September. We are going for a week with my brother, Bill and his family, as well as Cindy, Brian, Heather and PJ. They are even gonna babysit for us at least one night so Penny and I can get out for date night. Yay! Penny has a countdown going, and she tells me we have less than 100 days left to go. We are in the double digits. Yeah baby!

That's it for now. Pics to come soon. Maybe this evening if I get a chance. Penny and I have been talking about the blog lately. We love to keep folks updated, but sometimes we worry about safety concerns with having our faces and names out there for all to see/read. Do other people worry about that?

In closing, we had a pretty quiet weekend. It was Father's Day and I know I missed my dad. I am sure Penny missed her dad, too. I spent some time thinking about our donor, as well. If I could, I would say a million thanks to TSBC donor #1376. He helped us to create a beautiful family that we feel so lucky to have every single day.

We made it through the first year!

On May 10th, our babies turned 1. We had a lovely party with friends and family, who came to celebrate Jordan and Taylor and us all making it through the first year as a family.


I ordered these cool personalized bibs from etsy.com and they came out great! We loved them and have now added them to the drawer of keepsakes that we are saving for the babies when they are older.

Uncle Brian tames wild Thing 1 before the party begins. Doesn't she look wild? Thanks to Uncle Brian (or Buncle, as we like to call him after I switched the B and the U when referring to him. Get it?) for color coordinating with Taylor and Jordan on their big day!

Auntie Lisa helps with Jordan, the wildest of the beasts. We ordered the shirts online, too. Don't ya love 'em? It was so great to spend the weekend with Lisa and Robyn, who came up from Boston to spend some time with us. They had not seen the babies since they were 3 months old and we moved from CA. Lisa is the lucky lady who flew with me and the kids from CA to Boston. And she lived to tell the tale. We talked about the flying experience and how we both kept telling ourselves: "We will never see these people again" and "Every second that goes by is one second closer to the end of this journey." There were some "interesting" moments during the flights, as you might imagine!


Thanks to Auntie Cindy for making these awesome birthday cakes for the kids. This one is a turltle. Check out the licorice toenails! Such detail! And very yummy, too! Thanks, Cindy!

This giraffe cake was pretty awesome, too. The colors are dyed coconut. Isn't the neat? Anyone want to place an order with Cindy for their next party? She did an amazing job!

Here are the cupcakes that Mama Chris made, simply because she felt like a slouch if Aunt cindy was the only one to bake for the twins' first birthday! The kids each had one of these to dig into. You will see more of these in a bit, but they will not look this good!

Thanks to Auntie Robyn for being the grill master during the party! She made some pretty awesome burgers and dogs for the masses to gnosh on. Thanks so much, Robyn!

Enjoying the sunshine and a few brewskis.

Hail, hail the gang's all here! Even Jordan and Taylor's great-grandmother made it to the party! And she seemed to have a damn fine time!

Taylor and Jordan check out the cupcakes. At first, they were not sure what to make of them. They were hesitant. They were cautious....

And then the sugar started to hit and they were psyched! Look at that face!

Jordan got messy and enjoyed his cupcake thoroughly.

I have never seen someone suck a cupcake until it was gone, but that is exactly what Taylor did. Once she tasted that sugary icing, she was not putting that thing down for anything in the world and she wanted to make sure no one tried to take it from her. Enjoyment would be an understatement, I think!

Check out those frosting hands!

A family picture to commemorate the big day! We made it through the first year! Hip Hip Horray!
Thanks for this huge bag of mess-makers, I mean blocks, Uncle Ray and Aunt Jenn. (And they gave us TWO bags of them!) You know what they say about pay-back, right? I can't wait to shop for your kids for Christmas!

I love this picture of Jordan playing with a ribbon from one of the presents. He just looks SO happy!

They love their new riding zebra that we got them for their birthday. Our first mistake was only getting one and thinking they MIGHT be able to take turns and share. Mom, we're one. We ain't gonna do no stinkin' sharing!

Jordan tries out the walker/riding Lion from Auntie Lisa and Auntie Robin. The kids LOVED this! And it is so perfect to help out with developing their walking skills.

The shirts the kids wore for the party. They got dirty, but not anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be after such merry-making!

The post-birthday party bath. Taylor is tired and Jordan is ready to go another round. The mamas just want to pass out in bed!

G'night everone. Thanks for an awesome birthday. We had a blast and are so, so tired!

Relay For Life

On June 20th and 21st, Chris and I will be walking in the Relay for Life. This event is a fundraiser for The American Cancer Society. Although many of you were asked a few years ago to help us raise money when we did the Avon 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk (3 days, 60 miles and one of the most moving experiences of our life.), I am reaching out my hand and asking friends, family and strangers to sponsor either Chris or myself (or even both) once again.

Cancer has had a huge impact on my (Penny's) family. On November 20th, 1991 my mother lost her battle to breast cancer. When my father died, he had prostate cancer. I have also had many aunts on both sides of my family battle AND WIN the fight against beast cancer.

Currently, my second to the oldest brother has skin cancer which spread to his lymph nodes. His prognosis looks good! He had surgery last week, during which they removed the rest of his lymph glands and did not find any more cancer. The only areas of concern are some spots on his lungs and groin which were visible on a CT scan. In a few months, they will rescan and see if they can see cancer in those areas. My uncle on my mother's side is currently battling bladder cancer. This fight is not going as well. A few months ago they removed a tumor the size of a golf ball from his bladder. A month later they removed another one. Unfortunately this one was the size of his fist. At this point his doctors decided to remove his bladder. That surgery went fine. However the tube that brought the urine to the bag outside of his body needed to be fixed. He entered the hospital (fortunately) the night before his surgery. That night he began to have difficulty breathing. The cancer is now in his lungs. He has had a few set backs but we are all staying positive.

Needless to say cancer is big and bad in my family and I find the need to do what I can to help with research. If you feel you are able to do so, please sponsor me. If you can not afford to sponsor me , please consider participating in some way at a cancer fundraising event in your area.

Please feel free to donate in any amount. No amount is too small. I thank you. Chris thanks you, and my family thanks you! Please feel free to make donations using the following links:

My home page is http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeNewEnglandDivision?px=6234919&pg=personal&fr_id=7661

Chris' home page is
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeNewEnglandDivision?px=5052623&pg=personal&fr_id=7661


Thanks again! We will post details of the event here once it is over!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! We had a nice day here that involved lunch out at a Chinese buffet, a trip to the park, some more fun time with Aunties Lisa and Robin (who were visiting for the weekend), and some nice presents from the moms to each other. Thanks, Penny, for the facial gift certificate! I can't wait to make the appointment and get me some pampering!

One year ago today, we brought our babies home from the hospital, after a 4 day stay, post c-section. May 10th and Mother's Day were a few days apart last year, obviously! We were quite a spectacle, me being wheeled out on Mother's Day with two newborns. People were oohing and aaahing, and we got our first glimpse of the freak show we would become while in public. People love to ogle you, and sometimes make nice comments and sometimes act like total freakshows! We prefer the nice comments!

Anyway, while it was a lovely Mother's Day this year and last year, I am also painfully aware of Mother's Days in the past when I felt depressed and so sad, in wondering whether I would ever become a mother. Our journey to parenthood was a long and difficult one and, while going through it, we had no idea how or when it might end, and whether that ending would be a sad or happy one. I am also aware of all the women I know in real life and via message boards and blogs online, who are still struggling to become mothers through various avenues. I know the pain of cursing pregnant women, Hallmark cards, and Mother's Day commercials in your face every place you look. Ugh!!

I hope that all women who want to be mothers are able to celebrate Mother's Day at some point in the (near!) future and that the hurt of infertility does not always hurt so acutely.

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, to our lovely lovely babies! One year ago you came into our lives in a whirlwind and it has been go, go, go ever since.

We had a great birthday party today with friends and family. We took lots of pictures that I will try to post very soon. It was tons of fun, the kids got some great presents, and the weather was gorgeous for a BBQ on the deck. Thanks to all who came to help us celebrate and thanks to all the gift givers for their amazing generosity. The kids have already started having fun with some of the loot!

It has been a long day, so I will stop here. I just wanted to get a post in on May 10th to say Happy 1st Birthday to our gorgeous babies. Thank you for bringing such joy into our lives, the likes of which we never knew before!!

An anniversary

Dear dad,

It has been ten years today since that awful day when you died. Ten years? That seems so totally unfathomable to me. So much has happened to our family in ten years that if you popped in today, I fear you would hardly recognize us. I am so sad that you will never meet Taylor and Jordan. They are amazing little creatures, even when Jordan is shrieking and Taylor is awake so much at night. You would have loved them and you would have been such a great "Grampy." I truly feel my kids are missing out by not having you in their lives.

Thank you for being such a great parent to me and for teaching me how to be a parent. If I can manage to be half the parent you were to me, Jordan and Taylor will be lucky little devils.

I miss you every day and I still cry when I think of you and all the things you have not and will not get to be a part of in this world. Some days I am mad at you for never quitting smoking. You were so healthy in other areas of your life. How could you keep smoking and killing yourself slowly, so that you left us when you were only 49 years old? I forgive you and I know you were addicted to the smoking, but it just sucks so much. And it hurts that you are gone.

We have a cardinal that visits us daily and I started calling him "Bill." Is it you or maybe your spirit? The bird seems so intent on getting our attention by flying into the windows and sitting right outside on the branches. The bird is always around and seems to be watching over us. Oh, and the bird is a cardinal and you were a red head. Dad, is it you? I really want it to be you, watching over us.

It has been a long ten years in some ways. I can't believe I have not seen you in ten years. I miss your funny sayings (Ba-ding, Ba-dang, That's not even a little bit funny, Six of one, Half dozen of another) and I miss your jokes and I miss talking about Seinfeld with you.

I love you, dad. And I miss you like we just lost you yesterday. Peek in on us on Saturday, if you are not too busy. It's the twins' birthday party that day and I would love for you to be there.

Love always,
Chris

News in the world of baby bottles

Here is an FYI for any parents reading this blog:

Babies R Us is issuing store credit for all baby bottles containing Bisphenol-A (BPA) - that includes Dr. Brown's, Avent, Playtex, Soothie, Breastflow, you name it - so that parents can buy new BPA-free bottles.

Many thanks to Jude for giving me a heads up on this hot button issue. I called our local Babies R Us and the first woman I spoke to said they were only taking the bottles back with receipts. Well, after a year of use, we hardly still have the receipts. I said I know other stores are taking the bottles back without receipts. So, the first woman gave me to another woman, to whom I had to ask the same questions. Woman #2 said they will take all the bottles back, for full store credit, without a receipt, as long as you have the nipples, rings, lids, etc.

Awesome news!! I am BRU bound on Friday when I am in Burlington for a training. We have a lot of bottles, so this is very good news for us!

Too long since my last post!

Crap, where has the time gone? It has been several weeks since my last post.....sounds like I am going to confession. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been three weeks since my last confession. Here are my sins!" Thank you, Catholic school!

So, we have been busy and sick. Story of our lives.

We all came down with some pukey ickiness. Jordan had it the worst. Following that worst night ever with Taylor screaming all night long, we had Jordan's worst night ever a few weeks later, with much puking whenever he laid down. We went through an uncountable amount of crib sheets, pajamas, and changing table covers. Our poor boy. We ended up taking turns sleeping with him on the couch, so we were all propped up. The next day he was mostly fine, although Penny stayed home with him as he could clearly not yet go to daycare. That was a Sunday/Monday.

By Wednesday night, we thought the rest of us had escaped it. Wednesday night, Taylor started puking, although she did not have it as bad as Jordan did by any means. I was sick on Thursday and was home with both kids. Miserable, miserable day. There should be some rule that if the mom is sick, she should be relieved of all duties. And perhaps a Nanny 911 type should be whisked in to help! Penny also felt likle crap on Thursday. By Friday we were all on the mend, more or less. For now, the puking is over and we are grateful. Did I mention how much it sucked to live in a house with a washer, but no dryer, when your kids are puking their guts out? Um, yeah...it does!

Over the weekend, Penny and I went to a scrapbooking event called "Scrap for the Cure," which was a fundraiser for Relay for Life. The kids stayed home with a babysitter from their daycare center. We had tons of fun and we are so glad we were able to get out. However, having to pay for both an event/outing and a babysitter makes for a very expensive day out. It was worth it, and I hope we can get out more in the future. Although maybe long whole days out are a bit much for the budget.

We are having Jordan and Taylor's first birthday party on Saturday and we are very excited. Some friends and family will be attending and it promises to be a blast. I hope the weather is good, so we can BBQ outside on the deck. I can hardly believe it has been a year since the little monsters were born. This time a year ago, I was 36 weeks pregnant and waiting around to see what was going to happen next. Those following along at home may remember that we ended up having a c-section scheduled because Ms. Taylor (AKA Baby A) was transverse and would not flip around!! Mr. Jordan (aka Baby B) was breech, but may have flipped around if Taylor would have cooperated. She did not cooperate, so a c-section it was.

We will have a picture post of the birthday party early next week sometime! And probably some comparison photos, too. A little "THEN" and "NOW" perhaps.

The worst of times and the best of times...

On Tuesday night, we had the worst night we have had since the babies were born. Taylor screamed bloody murder for LITERALLY the entire night. She screamed more when we tried to lay her down in her crib. Penny and I were going out of our minds, taking turns with her and switching every hour or so, while the other one tried to sleep. Taylor's screaming did not change whether we held her, rocked her, swaddled her, let her lay next to us, let her lay on us. She slept a few times during the night for about ten minutes. We tried feeding her. We tried changing her diaper. We took her pajamas off. We tried Tylenol. NOTHING worked. She has never been inconsolable like that for so long, so we knew something was wrong. Penny took her to the doctor yesterday. Diagnosis? DOUBLE EAR INFECTION! The doctor said the reason for the screaming was that her ear drums were swelling. OMG! Our poor baby! Now she is on antibiotics and is doing great. They seemed to start making a difference right away. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine!

Today being Thursday, I was home with the kids as I am every Thursday. The day started off well with the kids sleeping much better last night than the previous night from hell. And then the hits kept on coming by the kids taking a GLORIOUS THREE HOUR NAP! They both slept from 10:20 am to almost 1:30 pm! I got a ton of stuff done and had a really relazing time. Thank you, thank you, thank you! When the kids woke up, I fed them and they ate like they had been sleeping for 100 years. They both immensely enjoyed some plain bread. This was the first time they had plain bread. They also ate pears, chicken, goldfish, cheerios, and formula. Big lunch for 11 month olds, right?

It was a gorgeous day, so I loaded the kids into the mom mobile (yes, we drive a minivan now!) and took them into town. We took a lovely walk (oh how I love our double stroller! It makes taking the kids out alone SO EASY!), then went to the library where the kids played and crawled around. Mama Penny met us there, which was a nice afternoon surprise. Then we went to Ben and Jerry's for a little ice cream treat. We even let the kids have tiny tastes of the yummy creamy treat on such a hot day. Then Mama Penny had to head back to work for a bit, so the kids and I headed home.

This was the nicest Thursday I have spent with the kids thus far and I was so psyched to get out of the house and partake of a few activities. I look forward to more outings with them in the nice weather.

In other news of things that I am psyched about....I am headed out of town for the weekend tomorrow to have a girls weekend with my Smithies. I am so excited to see them and it promises to be a lovely weekend. Many thanks to Penny and Auntie Cindy for doing the kid thing together this weekend, so that I can get a little R&R.

Happy 11 Months, Jordan and Taylor!

Our babies are 11 months old today! Wow! In a month, it will be their 1st birthday. My babies have left the building and in their place are these amazing and crazy almost toddlers! Day care is talking about transitioning them from the infant room to the toddler room. Wah! The kids are on the verge of walking, teeth are popping up all over the place, and we are making the move from bottles to sippy cups. My god! Where has the time gone?

Thank you for changing our lives for the better, our lovely babies. We are so lucky that you found your way to us, after such a long journey. We are getting excited for your birthday party next month. Auntie Cindy is going to make you some fancy cakes!

A year ago today, I was 33 weeks pregnant and could not wait to meet you guys. We thought we knew what was in store for us. Of course, there was so much we were not ready for. But, we are all alive and thriving and, while exhausted, we are loving having you guys around and we are so glad you picked us to be your parents!

Love,
your moms

(Over the weekend, I will try to post pics of Jordan drinking from a big boy sippy cup and Taylor in her fancy Smith College t-shirt. I also want to write a post about the day care transition plan, and post pics/talk about our great family visit with my brother and his family and my mom last weekend.)

Time to get your Picture Pages

New friends, Beth and Tracy from Burlington, came to visit us one lovely afternoon. We had such a nice visit and look forward to many more with them! They also volunteered to babysit! We love them even MORE now! :P


Here's us with the babies. Another rare picture of all 4 of us together. For a change, Jordan is smiling, but Taylor has the glassy look. Most pics, as you might notice, have Jordan with the glassy eyed look. Taylor is usually such a ham for the camera!

Taylor loves playing with this toy, which we lovingly call "Dino Balls." Thanks to the Thompson family for passing it along to us!

Jordan and Taylor in a rare moment of playing together peacefully. Although, if you notice, Jordan's hand is on Taylors...perhaps to rip it off of Mr. Dino in a fit of anger. Jordan already shows a dislike of sharing. Wonderful!

Jordan and Taylor love their new activity table that the Easter Bunny brought them. The moms love that there are 4 sides to stand on and this hopefully means less squabbling!

Taylor loves her some spaghetti...but only if she can eat it with her hands herself. She refused to eat it from a spoon. This was not a designated bath night, but that obviously changed early on during dinner time.
Jordan also enjoyed the spaghetti, but in a much more civilized manner!

We had a lovely visit with the "two moms" bloggy family a few weeks ago. It was so great for the kids (and us!) to meet Jordan and Taylor's 1/2 brother, Mr. E. Thanks for a great weekend, ladies, and for being such gracious hostesses.

We met up with Jude, Jen, and Gus for some yummy sushi that weekend. Gus is getting so big and cute. Her moms have their hands full, just like us!

A lovely group shot pre-sushi gnoshing.

Jordan tried some rice for the first time. He loved eating right from the chopstick!
Taylor also liked the rice from the chopsticks.
Mimi bought these funny pajamas for the babies. Check out the matching hats! Very funny. The babies seem to hate the hats, but Taylor didn't seem to mind in this pic.


Jordan models his matching PJ and hat set, while hanging over his crib railing. Note receiving blankets that have been secured to the crib rail with medical tape, as Jordan was actually gnawing through the teething guard that came with the crib. We would find him with bits of the wood finish dotting his slobbery cheek after his gnaw sessions.

In closing, I leave you with pics of my craftiness. I took part in a felt food swap with some gals from an online group of moms I met when I was trying to get pregnant. I made donuts for the swap and was very pleased with the results. What do you think?

I think they look good enough to eat, personally! Mmmmmm, donuts!

Updates and news

Well, over the past few weeks, we did some sleep training with the babies, which involved up to 20 minutes of crying at a time per baby. We did our evening routine (playing in the play room after dinner, a bath every other night, changing into PJs, rocking and book reading, and then bed. We would leave the room for 20 minutes to try to get the kids to settle down by themselves. The first night, Jordan wailed for 40 minutes (2 20 minute stretches), despite us going in after 20 minutes to soothe and pat and shush. We vowed not to pick the babies up to rock them back to sleep, unless they were hysterical and clearly not going to settle down. After three nights, Jordan settled with NO crying and slept through the night from about 730 pm to 6 am! Holy crap! A miracle had taken place! Taylor still has trouble settling on her own, and sometimes needs to be swaddled on her upper body, due to flailing arms that prevent settling. But, once swaddled, Taylor also found success in sleep and the moms were so, so happy....And then both kids got sick again and now all bets are off! We are back to copious amounts of rocking, which goes along with copious amounts of snot and coughing. God, this winter sucks donkey balls! Both kids have also had goopy eyes, which thankfully has not turned into pink eye. We are using a home remedy to treat the eye goop, which our pedi nurse practitioner thought was brilliant. We made some weak black tea, and we rub down the eyes with tea soaked cotton balls. Apparently the tanins (sp?) in the tea are good for healing the eyes. The kids hate it, but it worked to clear up Jordan's eyes and it is doing a good job on Taylor's eyes, too!

Jordan now has three teeth on the bottom and he is getting ready to walk. He does this funny crawl where he has one knee on the ground and then the other leg is bent so that his foot is on the ground. It is kind of a walking crawl. He can stand on his own for a few seconds and he loves to walk behind this little push cart we have. He does not need us to help at all and he just walks right along with it. It is so cute! Jordan is also talking up a storm and he seems to be trying to say words. He makes sounds and then points to things and looks at us, as if asking what the word is. Very fascinating to watch! Jordan loves waving, bananas, and dancing.

Taylor has a third tooth trying to cut through on the bottom. She loves to wave bye-bye and laugh and hold her arms up when she wants us to pick her up. She loves bananas, playing with her dino balls toy, and cruising along the furniture. It won't be long before she walks, too, I think. Taylor is a super fast crawler, which is good, because Jordan likes to try to take things away from her. Taylor needs to be able to escape fast!

We are planning a very exciting trip to Florida/Disney World in September. We are going with my brother, Bill, and his family (wife Michelle, daughter Kelly, and son, Will), as well as Penny's sister Cindy and her husband Brian, and Cindy's daughter Heather and her boyfriend, PJ. My mom and other brother, Tim, also live in Florida, so we will get to see them, too! We will be down there for a week and we are all very excited, both for the time together and the Disney experience. Penny and I have been doing lots of planning about how we will make the trip doable for the kids. This includes shorter park days, as well as going back to the condo for naps and swimming in the middle of the day. We are staying at a condo about a mile away from Disney, that we were able to get for next to nothing, through our timeshare organization.

That's about it for now, I guess. We are excited about a visit from my mom and Bill's family next weekend. It will be nice to all get together. While my mom is excited to see all of us, she is most excited to spend a long weekend with all four of her grandchildren in the same place! We have lots of new pics to post, but I will have to try to get to that later today!

Jude wants to know....

What I was like in high school...


Well, for me, high school was actually quite enjoyable. I had a lot of friends from sports teams and I guess you could say I was popular, although that seems weird to write. I had a terrible time in junior high because I switched schools in 7th grade (after skipping 6th grade). No one knew I had skipped 6th grade, but they were a bunch of kids who had all been together since Grade K and they were not too welcoming. Plus, I wore braces and head gear. (I had to wear the heada gear 22 hours per day. My orthodontist told my parents I had the worst jaw that he had ever seen. Our choices were to break my jaw and have it wired shut for some period of time, or to have braces and head gear. I wore braces from 4th grade to 9th grade! Looking back, I wonder whether we should have just gone for breaking my jaw!) While I cried everyday after I came home from 7th grade (things got somewhat better in 8th grade), I have a lot of fond memories from high school of bus rides to and from games and friends spending the night at my house.

I went to a small coed Catholic high school in NH. I played field hockey, basketball, and softball. I was the class Vice President and I was in the National Honor Society. I loved working on the yearbook my senior year. My date to the Junior Prom backed out on me at the last minute (even though I was on the prom committee and this crushed me not to be able to attend), but I had an awesome time at my Senior Prom with a pretty cute guy!

I dated a few guys in high school, but always ended up breaking up with them either when it got too serious (physically or emotionally), or when I got bored with their high school boy antics. I always wondered why my friends all had more long-term boyfriends and I didn't. Gee, I wonder why it never worked out! I did not know anyone gay at my school, although looking back, there are a number of sports teammates that I wonder about. Maybe someday I get to find out if some of them are lesbians now.

That's all I can think of to write about regarding who I was in high school. Oh yeah, I had big hair and big bangs they took a long time to get just right. My parents and I had our challenges over the years and I remember fighting over wanting a phone in my room. I also remember fighting with them, storming up the stairs to my room, slamming my door, playing music really loudly and having said phone taken away. Sometimes my mom now says, "You are lucky we let you live through high school!" Good times. I, for one, can't wait to see what Taylor is like in high school. In some ways, g*d help us if she is anything like I was. In other ways, I hope that she is like I was, since I have so many fond high school memories!

Thanks for the question/comment, Jude!

Inquiring minds want to know...

Babyblueprint and Familiewillim both had questions about our two year journey to parenthood, including how we coped and how we decided it would be me to carry a baby..or two, as it turned out!

So, I have always wanted to be a mom and had long dreamed of being pregnant and giving birth. I knew that if I was with another woman who also wanted to birth a child that we would have to take turns. While Penny always hoped to be a mom, being pregnant and birthing a child was not something that she felt a strong need to do. Also, Penny is 10 years older than I am, so that kind of made the decision for us. Our IVF doc did talk to us about using Penny's eggs for the IVF, but we decided that was not important enough to us to warrant both the cost and the level of invasiveness.

Over our two year journey to parenthood, we tried lots of different things. We tried fresh sperm (from a donor who was a friend of ours) and frozen sperm (from a local sperm bank). We tried just about all the different kinds of meds there are: clomid, femara, a few different injectibles, progesterone, metformin, and trigger shots. I had lots of testing and all my hormone levels came back fine. We tried different types of inseminations: IUI's, ICI's/IVI's, at home, with a midwife, just us, with a friend assisting (Thanks, Jean!) at the doc's office, etc, etc, etc.

So, I had unexplained infertility. I am not sure whether this made it harder or easier to keep going. In a way, if everything was fine, it made me feel more positive about going forward and believing that it would work at some point. On the other hand, it becam more and more frustating over time that it was not working, given that even my reproductive endocrinologist was saying she did not understand why I was not becoming pregnant! Her and me both! One recommendation was to lose weight, which I tried to do and was somewhat successful with, but it was hard for me to rely on that as my sole hope of becoming pregnant because my periods were regular, I appeared to be ovulating, and I just did not believe that being fat was my sole problem. Maybe that was naivete, or maybe it was a survival mechanism!

We took some breaks during the two years, so we really "only" had 14 months of active trying over the 27 months. When I counted my cycles, I was amazed that we had actually taken about as many breaks as we had active cycles. This was fascinating to me, as it seemed like we were always trying or waiting. I also tried acupuncture and made some diet changes. We tried to take good care of ourselves during the 2 years, by having date nights, taking some weekend and extended vacations, and checking in with each other as the process dragged on and on.

In the end, we decided to try IVF one time. I had great infertility coverage through work (IVF only cost us $3000), so we had not spent much up to that point. Meds only ever cost me a $5 copay and the office visits were free. Frozen sperm was our greatest expense, but for a year we used fresh and that was just $1 per donation! We talked about moving back to the east coast, but felt like we were putting our "real lives" on hold, until we had a baby. As time went by, we realized that might never happen. So, to put an end to the wait ifs and the maybes, we decided to try IVF one time. If it worked, we would wait till the "baby" was born, and then we would move to New England. If it did not work, then we would move right away.

So, we tried it, it worked...times two, we stayed in CA until the babies were born (and collected all the amazing CA maternity leave benefits, including paid FMLA for both of us, and an additional 8 weeks paid disabilty for me. I was off a total of about 4 months, totally paid!) and then we moved to VT when they were three months old. After a long journey and much struggle and heartache, we were so happy and amazed that it worked! And now, when we are sick and sleep deprived and struggling with the winter that just will not end, I try to be reminded of how lucky we are to have sleep deprivation because of the two most amazing little babies in the world, who, by the way are not so little anymore! The babies are ten months old now and I just can't believe it!!

Thanks for the questions/comments!

Meme Alert

Stolen from Judecorp and Life of Joan...

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it.

Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on lima beans, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc.

Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

Responses/posts will be screened and posted separately.

Piling up

We are having struggles in the world of sleep. And maybe if you look at each kid individually, it is not that bad. But consider the two together, and it seems like our sleep is really really shitty right now. The kids are 9.5 months old. Could it be a growth spurt? We went through some really good weeks of sleep and we rejoiced that we had survived the worst of sleep stuff. And then the gods laughed at us, and the bad sleep started again. WHY WHY WHY? One of the worst things we are experiencing right now is that Jordan can be exhausted and his eyes are barely open to slits. But when you try to hold him and rock him and soothe him, he pushes against you with amazing force, trying to get away. And if you the put him in the crib, he wails and wails. The pushing away is annoying because it can be painful, it can be tough to hold on to him and not drop him (he is almost 21 lbs now!), and, in a way, it feels like a rejection from him. This may seem weird to say, but it really does feel personally insulting. Like, hey dude, I am trying to rock you and this mommy and me time should be so nice and all you want to do is get the hell away from me.

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Every Thursday I am home with the kids because I now work 4 ten hour days to make up my full time work schedule. In theory, it is nice to have an extra day with the kids and it saves on day care costs. My current struggle is that Thursdays tend to be pretty difficult. I want to cherish these days with the kids, but I find myself more enduring them and wishing them away than anything else. I am constantly looking at the clock and counting the hours until Penny gets home. I hope that, as the kids get older and as the weather gets better, I will be able to get out with them more and enjoy them. Being home for a whole day with the kids alone is tough because it is a neverending litany of feeding, changing, holding, playing, trying to get down for naps (them, not me!), and shuttling them up and down the stairs. Exhausted does not even begin to cover it.

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Both kids have colds and are terribly snotty. Any guesses as to how much they each like to have their noses suctioned out with the nasal aspirator? Also, Taylor has another ear infection, so she is now on antibiotics. Taylor had a rough weekend last week due to fevers of up to 103 degrees, which resulted in a doc's appointment on Sunday...no fever at time of appointment and no ear infection, then being sent home from daycare on Tuesday with a fever os 102.6, another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and a subsequent diagnosis of an ear infection and the beginning of antibiotics. Good times.

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Yesterday we had another big snowstorm. They predicted 16 inches and I thought about slitting my wrists. In the end, we only got about 8 inches, so that was much nicer. But, Jee-zus! Is this winter over yet? Everyone tells us, "Ya picked a hell of a winter to come back to New England!" Thanks. Very helpful!

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The house we are living in has been sold. This is the 3rd rental house that has been sold out from under us while we were living in it. We may stay here until the end of our lease in August, or we may move early if we can find a suitable arrangement. The sellers have been clear that we are welcome to stay until the end of out lease, which has been nice. But, the buyers are quite vested is us leaving early. We may actually switch houses with them, as they are renting a nice house nearby. We are going to look at it on Sunday. We are asking the buyers to pay for a packer/mover for us, if they really want us to move out early, due to our time constraints with two babies and the fact that we just went through a cross country move 6 months ago. We have proposed the idea to them and they are going to let us know.

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For some reason, my left eye will not stop twitching and watering. Stress and sleep deprivation anyone? In good news, however, is that day care was closed yesterday due to snow and Penny stayed home with the kids becuase I had to go to a staff retreat. The kids were able to go to daycare today instead, and I do not work on Thursdays, so guess who is home all alone, with an entire day all to herself to lay around and eat grapes and bon bons? You guessed it...yours truly. There are SO many things I want to do with my time, so I better run! Penny and I are meeting for lunch later today.

Pics, pics, pics

Cousins Heather and Jessie with J & T recently. Jessie was home from Utah for a visit (along with fiancee Matt and son Chase) and we had a lot of good family time. It was great to meet Matt and to hang out with Chase. He is such a big boy now!

Ms. Taylor is on the move! Check out that drool!

Here's Chase with one of his favorite birthay gifts, courtesy of MeMa (Cindy). Check out that tongue!

Cousins Alex and Trent love to hold J & T. Lookin' good everybody!

Jessie looks ready to be a mom of twins herself, doesn't she? Rockin' the twins, Jess! LOVE the face on Taylor!

Jordan is enjoying finger foods, especially 'nanners! He is a very messy boy. Gotta roll up the sleeves!

Taylor loves her some 'nanners, too! She is such a ham when the camera comes out!

My name is Jordan and I love to eat plastic!

Check out the teeth!

Oh, that eating was such hard, hard work! She fell asleep right in her highchair, so we left her there for a little snooze!

Jordan LOVES to stuff his mouth. Lots of gagging. Good times. And we gotta watch him for choking like you would not believe! This boy gives us a run for our money in the eating department. He also apparently has an endless appetite!

Um, I think I'll take "cute as can be" for 100, Alex.

Penny, Taylor, and Chase. Thanks for letting T wear your hat, Chase!

At Penny's grandmother's surprise 90th birthday party, they took a picture of all the grandkids and great grandkids...and there is even a great great grandkid (Chase)! Penny especially likes this pic, since the babies have so many cousins and I have only one. And this is only ONE side of her family!
Penny and her siblings have not been all together for a long time, but here they were at Gram's 90th. What a motley crew, ey? Standing from oldest to youngest, from right to left: Gordie, Bobby, Cindy, Penny, and Raymond