Parting Thoughts

We made it!

Things I liked the most about daily blogging:

• getting to read comments from people whose blogs I've never read before and now have hooked up to my G@ogle reader. it makes me feel much more "in the loop." I feel like once we got pregnant, there was a whole "class" of us, so to speak, who graduated and I lost track of the undergrads, so it's good to be reading new journeys again!

• having a place to vent

• feeling mildly accomplished

Things I disliked:

• the pressure of having to blog every day. Some days we barely came in under the wire! Ahh!

• not having anything to say some days, which just highlighted our rather boring lives

• whoever was the last one awake ended up doing the daily post, although most of the time we would watch over each others' shoulders

And there you have it! It's not quite the finale, since we're obviously keeping our blog and it's not like you'll never hear from us again, but I do feel a bit of parting sadness as the big sharing is kind of done for now. For those of you who followed along, we thank you. It's nice to know someone with a pulse is reading out there. Thank you for your comments on issues from the technical to the emotional to the mundane. And, for those of you who also participated, thank you! It was nice to have buddies also dragging their asses to their computers every evening to say whatever is on their minds (even if it's nothing).

See you in December - albeit a bit less frequently!

NaBloPoMo Nearing Its End

This is our second-to-last post for NaBloPoMo. How did we do? I felt like daily blogging was both a chore and a pleasure. There were many nights when we'd sit there and really struggle to come up with something, anything, to write, and others where it felt easy and refreshing to vent, share, whatever. I'm wondering what our blogging habits will be like now--whether we'll be more diligent about writing, or slip back into our 'we're way too busy for this' mode and let it slide.

And can I share with you one of the big reasons we kept on blogging this month? If we stopped, we wouldn't be eligible for any of the prizes! I know the prizes are stupid, but it's fun to enter contests, and in the past year or two we've had pretty good luck winning stuff thanks to generous bloggers and Prizey (which, if you have the time and organization to keep up with, we highly recommend doing!! We won our extremely expensive organic crib mattress that way!)

I will think I'll miss having to think about what to post every night. So who knows--maybe you'll keep hearing from us after all is said and done.

Season of Light

The holidays are in full swing around here these days. Thanksgiving is definitely the kick-start to our festivities. We've already achieved some measure of Christmas shopping success and begun the whirlwind family visits. I am usually quite a Grinch, but am actually looking forward to this year since Theo is just so incredibly different now than last year at this time (duh!). I think he's just going to love the holidays--the food, the company, the toys, the kids---and the lights! We think Theo's first word is light ("aight!"), so the lights on all the Christmas trees and store displays are pretty much putting him over the top. Below, Theo's weekend highlights: Thanksgiving dinner, admiring the color wheel on his grandparents' awesome vintage tinsel tree (I'm pretty sure he's thinking "OMG--lights AND motion? A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!, tub time with bubbles, and being amazed at how many "AIGHTS!" are on this thing! WOW!

Yes--the holiday magic has begun.

And, umm...I tried to post pictures of all these amazing highlights of Theo's weekend, but damn slow blogger won't upload my damn pictures and there are only 5 minutes left to get my daily post in. ARRRGGG!!! I'll try again tomorrow!

Update: Pics are here!

Day two of Thanksgiving! C.'s sister made us a delicious T-day dinner tonight. I love two days of gorging on the most delicious food.

Went Black Friday shopping (not until 8am) and picked up a new washer/dryer. S@msung. Got great reviews, any experiences? Went in for the steam version, which were sold out by 5:30am. Ended up with the non-steam version but are just as happy. Hope they get the stink out of those cloth diapers. Because, yes, they stink. All. the. time.

Tired, full. And still feeling very thankful for it all.

We're stuffed!

The end of another holiday where we were privileged enough to have way too much food, way too much fun, and way too many family members around to hang out with. The kids (4 under the age of 6) were crazy and they totally trashed the living room, but we could have cared less. All in all, the end to another satisfying day.

Pics tomorrow. I forgot my camera cord at home. Oops.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Theo Sure Gets Pushed Around!

Theo had his 15-month appointment today (even though he just turned 16-months) and here are his stats! Our pedi always refers to him as an Adonis. Our boy? *blush*

Height: 32 1/2 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 27.6 lbs. (80th percentile)

Don't remember head, but it was in the 75th. So, he's totally proportionate!

And such a chubby love. Oh, I love his chubbiness. Witness the bare legs below. Here is his non-bio cousin/girlfriend F. showing off how strong she is by pushing my lubba around - literally!

We started poking around on Cry@bank again for a donor. It feels...like starting over. It is in many ways. I have to get all new paperwork signed and sent in, I have to go to the ob or midwife to have them sign off, and then, of course, we have to actually pick a donor. Much to our chagrin there are hardly any Polish, blue-eyed donors out there. Who knew? They're everywhere in this part of MA and CT, so we figured it wouldn't be that hard and they must be everywhere. Though S. is only a quarter Polish, our donor was half, so Theo turned out to be quite the little squishy boy, S.'s grandfather's younger self perhaps---blonde, blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked, angelically devilish looking (though our donor looked nothing like this!).

Where do we go from here? I don't like this process, I will not lie. It makes me feel vaguely like I'm cheating or doing something wrong. I know that the feeling will pass, we will make a choice that makes us feel at peace, and everything will work out. It's just kind of harder than I thought it would be.

Double Meme

A NaBloPoMo Meme from both of us!!!!

1. What is the color of your toothbrush?
S: Clear
C: Pink and Clear
2. Name one person who made you smile today.
Both: Theo
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
S: Lounging in bed
C: Making French toast
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
S: Comparison shopping washer and dryers
C: Reading a David Sed@ris essay
5. What is your favorite candy bar?
S: Reeses Peanut Butter Cup
C: Heath Bar
6. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Both: nope
7. What is the last thing you said aloud?
S: Sit down and write this with me
C: Are you ready for bed yet?
8. What is your favorite ice cream?
S: Usually Peanut butter, but I'm into Peppermint these days
C: Vanilla Heath Bar crunch
9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Both: Pomegranate juice mixed with seltzer
10. Do you like your wallet?
S: Yes. It's perfect.
C: Yes. It's red.
11. What was the last thing you ate?
S: Peppermint ice cream
C: Egg salad
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
S: A great deal at Old N@vy today. An off-white sweater.
C: New stretch pants, same deal!
13. The last sporting event you watched?
S: The Orioles/Red Sox game I went to in June.
C: Part of the World Series
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
S: Normal style, with nutritional yeast.
C: Mixed with M&M's
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?
Both: Each other - we are not texters!
16. Ever go camping?
S: In girl scouts
C: Never, nor do I have a desire to.
17. Do you take vitamins daily?
S: Not these days, but I should.
C: Yes.
18. Do you go to church every Sunday?
Both: No, never.
19. Do you have a tan?
Both: Not in New England in November, no way.
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?
S: No C: No
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? Both: No
22. What did your last text message say?
S: In meeting don't have to pick up Theo would be cool if u did
C: I'm coming to get Theo
23. What are you doing tomorrow?
S: working, dinner with my cousin and her kids
C: ditto
24. Favorite color?
S: Mine changes all the time. That's what I tell my first graders!
C: Doesn't have one. But it used to be pink.
25. Look to your left; what do you see?
S: Radio Flyer Bouncy Rocking horse
C: S.
26. What color is your watch?
Both: Believe it or not, neither of us wear a watch.
27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”?
S: Wildlife
C: Hugh Jackman
28. Would you strip for money?
S: No C: No
29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
S: We only ever eat it in the mall.
C: Drive thru coffee
30. What is your favorite number?
S: 8 C: 3
31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone?
S: My mother
C: My mother
32. Any plans today? Both: It's time to go to bed!!
33. In how many states have you lived? Both: 2, MA and NY
34. Biggest annoyance right now?
S: Trying to figure out what washer/dryer to buy
C: This meme
35. Last song listened to?
S: Nellie McKay
C: I don't remember
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? S: Yes C:No
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Both: We wish.
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
S: Black Merrells
C: Leopard print flats
39. Are you jealous of anyone?
S: Sure
C: yeah
40. Is anyone jealous of you?
S: Probably not
C: Doesn't seem likely
41. Do you love anyone?
Both: Of course!
42. Do any of your friends have children?
Both: Some of them
43. What do you usually do during the day?
Both: Teach
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?
S: My grandmother always told me you could only hate one person in your entire life. So, no.
C: No
45. Do you use the word hello daily?
Both: Yes
46. What color is your car?
S: Silver C: Green
47. What size wedding ring do you wear?
Both: No idea.
48. Are you thinking about someone right now?
S: Maybe Theo if he cries again. Damn molars.
C: Trying to concentrate
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
S: Yes C: No, even though we have one 20 minutes away!
50. How did you get your worst scar?
S: Fell on a playground when I was little.
C: Surgery to remove lump from boob.

There's nothing like being around my cousin to make me think about parenting styles. Let me preface by saying we are over what happened at Easter. We've lost our grandmother since, our mothers are super-close, it's important to let bygones be bygones. I do love her. But.

It. is. so. damn. frustrating. to. be. around. her. I just don't get when people don't think about their parenting. The consequences, the modeling, the morals to instill, the praise and encouragement to bestow. I am not saying I am perfect, nor am I saying that my way is better than your way, though I guess when it comes right down to it, I am judging - I can't help it. She commented on how she can't understand how her daughter doesn't understand not to play with the toothpaste, even though she has been spanked 10 times for it. Um, hello, spanking is not then working. Try something new. MOVE the toothpaste. She's questioning vaccines, as her oldest was diagnosed autistic, as she takes a huge drag of her cigarette. Time after time, thing after thing.

I guess it's because I surround myself with people who do make good conscious decisions, and think about the impact of their actions. I just am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that not everyone does. Educate yourselves, mothers! Read about vaccines, and food ingredients, and discipline models, and child development, and parenting styles, and plastics, and "screen time", and developmentally appropriate toys. The information is all out there. It's not hard to find. Educate yourself and make the best decision for your family.

I'm feeling a little "high and mighty" as I reread the post. Questioned deleting it, but I'm gonna put it out there even though it's all still a-ramblin' around in my head and not yet quite making sense.

Time Flies

Well, the crazy week has come to a close, thank gaawwwwwd. We are pooped. Our house is a wreck. There have been diapers in my washing machine since Wednesday (they're clean, though, I swear) and dishes still piled in the sink (but I did run the dishwasher tonight!). We were invited to S.'s parents house to help clean up for Thanksgiving, but instead got sucked into watching the longest move I've seen since one of the "Lord of the Rings" flicks--"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." It was a beautiful movie, but jeesh, 2 hours and 46 minutes? We paused at least 3 times for various break activities (bathrooms, snacks, etc.). Not exactly how I pictured winding down today, but besides my sloppy house, I finally feel some sense of relief. Next week will be easy, only 2 1/2 days for me, 2 for S., then happy holidays with family.

We love Thanksgiving---it's not religiously affiliated, there are no gifts involved, there is food and cooking involved, and it sends a good message. What's not to like?

Plus, as S. pointed out, one gets to start listening to Christmas music and/or watching Christmas flicks. I kind of disagree with her on this, but we have for the past few years done the "let's get up at 4 in the morning and go shopping!" thing. I am proud to say each year we come home a little earlier. I think last year we were in by 7:30 a.m.! Woot! This year will be slightly abbreviated, what with Theo on a more regular sleep schedule. For the life of us, we can't remember what we did with Theo last year when we did our crazy morning dash--was he sleeping in the carrier? Probably. He didn't have quite as precarious a sleep schedule at that time I guess. Or...did we go AT ALL?! Sadly, we cannot remember. The past year has been a bit of a blur. If not for hundreds upon hundreds (must be close to a thousand at least) of pictures and this blog, the year might have been lost!

Well, I started cycling again and made an appointment with my RE to talk about what comes next. Unfortuately, I can't just show up with a canister of swimmers and hope a nurse will take me--I have to actually have an official "change of treatment" and then act accordingly. so--we'll see. I am also going to call our midwives' office to see if I could possibly do it with them instead. It's a little trickier with them, since they have no storage and no imaging facilities (so no follicular monitoring). The plus side is that they can pretty much meet you any time to do the deed, whereas at our clinic, the schedule is a little more strict.

Fortunately, my RE appt. isn't until January, so we have some time to ponder. Then there's obviously the costs...will insurance cover our insems? Will they charge us for a mere office visit, or for god knows what else? Meh. I hate that money somehow ends up playing into ttc decisions.

I'm pooped, by the way. Conferences, as S. mentioned previously. And Theo. Oh! Poor Theo! I weep for his tender gums.

--cd

I just cannot adequately express the craziness of this day, and the fogginess in which I lived it.
Run down: Dress/feed/ready Theo, drop off Theo early, faculty meeting, school day!, grad class, dinner at parents house, and now I need to grade my student teacher. Fit in some important phone calls to my health insurance company and hairdresser. The evening was sans C. who is still at conference night. Tomorrow is an observation of and meeting with said student teacher and math training in the afternoon. And guess who didn't sleep well? Up from 1-2am last night. When will those molars make their appearance?

We tried to put him in our bed when he was crying and inconsolable, and it was the cutest, most hysterical thing, even at 1am. Even though he was half-asleep, he kept looking at us, and putting his head on our pillows and then sitting up and looking around. It was like he didn't know what to do! Co-sleeping just doesn't work for him. We had to put him back, because he just wouldn't settle in.

Oh yeah and I have a sore throat. Talk about a b1tch-fest this week!

School Days and Nights

S. just informed me that a picture post "doesn't count" as a post. I thought it was a clever way to get out of saying anything remotely intelligent myself.

We had a family picture taken today at S.'s school. One of the parents is a professional photographer and every year, does a fundraiser for the school's PTO. For $20, we got multiple shots of us with Theo and Theo alone. All the images are put onto a disk for us to do what we please with. I think this is probably our first "official" family portrait! Hopefully some shots turned out decent. Photographing Theo in a formal situation is, um..."challenging." It was an especially cranky afternoon for T., as there were other kids there with giant toy cars and ooooh boy, did Theo's face just light up when he saw them, and then oooooh boy, did he throw a fit when he couldn't have them.....somehow we made it through with at least a handful of good pics, we hope!

We both feel like this is hell week--we have something going on every single day after school. I have conferences until 9 at night tomorrow and Thurs. I'm sorry, but as a high school teacher, I feel resentful that I have three half-days and two 3-hour evenings of conferences. I'm pretty sure we're the only high school left on the planet who does this intense a conference schedule. I would much rather be home with my loves and wearing my ugly, old red sweatpants that S. finds offensive. (Like I care---they are oh-so very fuzzy and comfy!)

S. has just decided I would have been better off posting a picture. HA! That's what you get when you don't let me have my way!

I think this is the funniest thing ever. Both my father and my mother call, independently of one another, to ask about how gymnastics was for Theo today. Why do they even remember that he had it today? MY parents, who are kinda anti-baby in a weird way. I always worried that they wouldn't really "like" my kid. I know they "love" him, but they are kind of hands-off when it comes to people and feelings. And here they are worried that he's getting in trouble at gymnastics class. hahaha.

And no, he was not good. He likes it, and the teachers are okay with it, but he doesn't really do what they tell him to. He wants to sit in the damn ball pit. He wants to run around like a maniac, he doesn't want to jump over the foam, he walks around it instead. Oh well, I just want him to be around other kids and do things we don't do at home. And maybe he'll learn to sit at circle time later.

My mothers last comment to me was "...but they don't scold him, right?" Now, that's love.

-sp (Remember I said, we would start signing our posts??)

Oh man, I almost went to bed without blogging! That would have been a tragedy seeing as we've now hit the half-way mark of NaBloPoMo . I'd hate to be the one to screw it all up now!

Today we did mundane home things, such as laundry, cleaning, making more to-do lists, and traveling to a flooring store to try and pick out new flooring for our kitchen. Our kitchen floor is..well..it sucks. It's industrial tiles, which means they need special cleaner. It is a multi-hour process to really clean our floor, and just mopping it never makes it look quite the same, so we're ready to call our floor quits. We're thinking cork, but it's kind of expensive. Our kitchen is really, really small, but it would still cost nearly $800 to cover it with the cork we've found. Yikes!

Should we go old-school and do linoleum? It's green (as in environmentally friendly) and comes in cool colors! No bamboo for sure, though--too soft, scratches too easily. The way Theo throws crap out of our cabinets, we need something very durable. Oh yeah, and easy to clean. And hides dirty and splishy-splashy kitchen messy stains.

What's on YOUR kitchen floor??

Theo knew his mamas were having a hard time with the quantity and quality of this here blog. So, he took matters into his own hands.

Today we spent the day at the local Children's Museum. Mama had an quiz team tournament (dork!) and my parents were out of town, so Theo and I were all on our own. Usually I hate all alone days, but we had a great day! He slept in until 8:30, ate breakfast, went to the museum and ran wild with our babysitter and her children. He didn't necessarily "get" all the exhibits but there were plenty of things to play with. He LOVED this laptop and the train table. We came home and ate lunch, and he took a three hour nap! And he didn't even poop until Mama got home. What did I do to deserve such a good baby?

An *Important* Choice

Dorothy or Annie?

If you read, you must vote.

Random Reader Responses

Oooh, fun questions...thank you thank you thank YOU, readers, for saving our asses from complete obsolescence this evening.

I would like to address a couple of fun reader comments. This one is my favorite:

Did you put pictures of celebrities on your walls when you were younger?

YES! This so embarrassing, but I had my wall plastered with teen boy stars like Edward Furlong, Jonathan Brandis, and some others that have fallen into obscurity. (I think Jonathan Brandis committed suicide a few years ago. Furlong shows up in reruns of Terminator 2:Judgement Day.) That sort of progressed into my music-obsessed teenaged self, so those pictures were soon replaced by my fav high school bands--radiohead, smashing pumpkins, tori amos, nine inch nails, nirvana...did you ever have those HUGE, GINORMOUS posters? I had like, 4 of those on my wall--two smashing pumpkins, one tori amos, and one beatles. I would say my musical tastes have expanded greatly, but I still turn to that music when I'm feeling blue and need a little jolt.

Thoughts on Western Mass (for Mutti):

I love it here and if I had to leave NYC for anywhere, it was going to be for somewhere we love. There is everything..arts, culture, restaurants, the great outdoors, a generally liberal population, kid-friendly places--plus real estate here is way cheaper than in Eastern Mass, and there is no crazy city-traffic like in the Boston suburbs (where I grew up).

h-e-l-p

OMG, our lives are boring! Besides work, home and Theo - nothing. I've got nothin'. No vacations coming, no exciting news, no ttc, no gardening or yardworking, no big work problems, no family crap, no events, nothin'! Blogging everyday sucks. Boring and uninteresting - that's me. I generally like boring - I've got no problem with living a stress-free, drama-free, quiet little life.

Throw us a line. Any questions? Anything you're dying to know about? Here's your chance to question our parenting, find out about our homelife, and get nosey. please. I've never asked for commenters to delurk or participate, so here it is. Desperation.

Okay, I've just started and then deleted 2 blog entries. My brain is non-functional. The day off, which I have to say I was feeling like I badly needed, seems to have drained me.

Seriously. I just wrote another sentence then deleted it.

I'm watching Brothers and Sisters on TiVo. Hey, we're a Nielson Family now! Yes, we somehow determine what does and does not get ratings. In fact, we had to do a "tv diary" last week, and it had exactly 5 entries in it for the week. S. wouldn't let me stop on anything she deemed "embarrassing" for more than 5 minutes because she didn't want the Nielson people to know we watching anything, you know...embarrassing.

I will also mention that this particular episode of "Brothers and Sisters" we are watching is from last January. We have entire seasons of shows in waiting. So, no spoilers please.

First and foremost, what the heck happened to my sleeper? He's waking at night, waking at earlier times in the morning, and NO NAP today. Think it could be the teeth? What's going on in there? Growth spurt? Learning explosions? No LIKEY. Help? Experiences?

Glad to be back from my "business trip"/ teacher conference. Besides learning enough about common assessments and best practice to make my head explode, we ate great food, drank plenty of wine and enjoyed our two days away from our classrooms. I'm full of teacher jargon and feel re-energized about some First Grade things.

Mostly, I couldn't wait to get home and squeeze my little guy. I have to say though - he wasn't much fazed by the comings and goings of his mommy. He didn't plan a very exciting welcome home extravaganza. I hope it's just developmental or even personality, and not a lack of attachment. It's hard to tell if he prefers me over other people. It's kind of frustrating after you push a human out of you to wonder whether he even registers you as special! Sad, but true.

Monday Musings

I have to say, I am finding these daily blog posts quite liberating after a day of dealing with surly teenagers and solo-parenting. S. is on a "business trip," as she likes to call it, but since we're educators, I reminded her that she is actually at a "conference" out in Boston with some of her favorite co-workers. Lucky her getting to spend the night in a nice hotel with a balcony and then go to an awesome dinner. Theo and I didn't make out too bad, though, I have to say. I think I did pretty good my first single mom night. Let me tell you, though, I am not cut out for 1.) stay at home momming or 2.) single parenting. Nuh-uh, no way. Maybe if I had always been a single parent it wouldn't be so shocking, but seriously, taking care of that kid solo is a huge job. Every time I am alone for a long time with Theo, I feel blessed to have S. as my parenting partner, and wowed and amazed at the job single mothers do everyday of their lives. I don't know that I would have the fortitude to do the job. But, as a mother, I get that you do what you have to for the sake of your children.

Okay, on to the next topic...I happened to catch the House of Representatives on CSPAN just as they passed the Health Care Bill on Saturday night. I am consistently amazed at the atmosphere of these voting sessions. Seriously, it looks like they're having a freaking cocktail party. Hugging, shaking hands, chatting. Hello people! Don't you know our freaking futures are at risk here?? Anyway, S. berated me for not waking her up to see the historic moment. It really wasn't all that spectacular, let me tell you. She also accused me of making her miss multiple televised historic moments, as I also failed to wake her when Obama won last Nov. and he made his moving speech in Chicago. Sorry baby; next time a piece of landmark legislation passes and/or racial barriers are broken, I'll attempt to stir you!

Geocaching!

We got a chance to partake in one of our favorite family hobbies today, as it was beautiful late fall day in western MA today! And no, it's not raking leaves, which is what we did in the morning during his blessed 2 1/2 hour nap. In the afternoon we went ge0caching! Never heard of it? Check it out! It's so much fun. It forces you outside to explore your own community, and leads you to things you've never seen and loads of junk toys/treasures. Plus it's a fun challenge. And all you need is a handheld gps (relatively inexpensive -$100 or so) and a set of coordinates with clues. We went with Theo in the Erg0, with my parents in tow - two towns away to a place where a man is entombed in a HUGE boulder in the middle of the woods. It was the craziest cache ever. We were two for two today bringing our total to 26 finds.

Here is a picture of Theo finding his first cache back in the spring!

Home again--it was great to come home to little T., who I'm pretty sure had the greatest time ever at his grandparents' house. He pretty much had no interest in us when we came back, but was quite delighted to return home to his room full of toys, and I think his special bedtime blankets and stuffed animals.

My spa day was delightful. If I were a woman of means, I am pretty sure I'd have weekly facials. If you are, or get them more often than once every 3 years, consider yourself lucky! It was swell. Happy Birthday to me! Thanks, baby! Greatest birthday weekend ever!

Dear 7 readers,
This is how dedicated we are to you. Instead of heading to the romantic wine bar after the C@tie Curtis show, we are at a cafe because it has free wireless where we can drink tea and head to bed. Yes, dedicated. Not, however, dedicated enough to pay the $10 for wireless at our swanky hotel. And, no, it's not because we're old fuddy-duddies who are really looking forward to the first night sans-Theo because of the uninterrupted quality of sleep we will get. That's just a perk.
Love, S and C

p.s. I hope Theo is not terrorizing his meme.

This n' That

The pressure is already getting to me and it's only Day 5 of NaBloPoMo! Ahhhh!

Still we soldier on. I've just been challenged by S. to write another "deep" post. I really don't have deep in me. My deepness got all filled in today with irascible teenagers, swim class, and a high-maintenance baby-toddler who likes to destroy my kitchen while I'm in the middle of cooking dinner.

I guess I'll have to steal from S., who kindly called our Cryobank today to see what the deal with with our out-of-stock donor. From the sounds of it, he's probably going to stay that way, but we are going to reach out to their DSR and the DSR to see if anyone out there in the world has any unused vials. We're willing to wait a little while to see what happens. Then, if it doesn't, it doesn't and we move on to plan 42, or whatever version we're on at this point.

By the way, you have to pay for the freaking DSR now? $50? Seriously? That seems a little steep for something that might be completely useless. Oh well. Should we put our donor # up on our blog and see what happens? It doesn't feel quite right, but we know bloggers who have donor siblings who also have blogs, so I guess it's a remote possibility. Perhaps with the exception of known donors, I feel like most people keep that information pretty close. Or do they? Do you? How liberal are you with your donor information??

We're going away tomorrow night for my 30th birthday weekend (it was 2 months ago, but the weekend is happening around a concert that's going on in Northampton). We stay in the fancy hotel in town, see a show, and then Saturday I get a spa day. Ahhhh yes. Should be a lovely way to wind down the long week.

So C. can do all the wistful posts about our dearly departed and the thought-provoking post about why we blog and I will post all the silly sweet pictures of little Theo. I mean, seriously, who does not want see my little muffinman dressed up as a chicken for Halloween. We tooled around Main St. in his wagon for a bit and he was never the wiser about the whole candy scene.

What else is going on in his life? Well, he started a baby gymnastics class and LOVED it. He goes with our babysitter, but I'm dying to take a day off of work just to see him do it. He starts swimming tomorrow, which I know he already loves. Going by the terrible smell of his breath, I think he's getting some molars - slowly. He's spending his first overnight with meme (grandmother) next weekend - mama and I have a date. He was a flower boy in a NYC city hall wedding last weekend - which was my second favorite day of the whole year, after his birthday party. He had a terrible rash in which we had to go to the pedi, but it cleared up - it was hard to see him in so much pain. He has a true love of cars, trucks and anything with wheels. He meows and arfs and says 'dis' for 'this'. He loves to eat - A LOT. He loves brussell sprouts but not pasta. He runs away from us whenever he can. He is a mischief maker extraordinaire. He is such a love.

Why We Blog

We started this blog 3 1/2 years ago when we began ttc. It was started because, at the time, we didn't think there was "anyone else out there" going through this process. Hahahahaha...were we ever wrong. What we found in the process certainly has kept us going even after we've achieved our goal of conceiving and birthing a child. 3 1/2 years ago, we could never have imagined that:

-There were a whole mess of other women out there doing the same thing we were
-We would grow very attached to a bunch of random strangers across the country and world
-We would leave NYC to live in Western Mass
-We would have a little Theo

But here we are all these years later. We're still blogging because our journey has not yet come to an end. That, and I could not imagine just cutting out of my life the journey of all those others we have grown attached to.

Man am I sounding corny tonight. In all seriousness, though, blogging has brought us much needed sanity, information, piece of mind, and a general sense of belonging we do not always get in the outside world. All this by sharing intimately personal information with an internet full of strangers.

Why do you blog?

Dia de los Muertos

Grampy worked his dream job ushering for the Boston Red Sox during spring training at their park in Ft. Myers, FL for nearly 15 years.

Grampy and Theo Memorial Day Weekend

In honor of the Day of the Dead, I thought I'd post some pictures of special people that we've lost over the past year. This past May, S. lost her grandmother who we called Meme, and in September I lost my grandfather, Grampy, to Pulmonary Fibrosis.

I'll let S. post about her own grandmother, but for me, I can say that my Grampy was at times cantankerous, but always had a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and great stories about growing up in East Boston in the 1930's. Born in 1929, he worked a variety of jobs in his lifetime, mainly around cars and automotive repair. He became the first authorized dealer of Honda Motorcyles on the East Coast in the 1960's, selling them before anyone knew what the Honda brand was. When I asked him why he started selling Hondas, he told me that he saw some celebrity on the Johnny Carson show talk about toodling around Hollywood on a Honda, and he was instantly intrigued. He loved us grandchildren very, very much, and of my son, remarked, "That's quite a kid you've got there," which from him is one of the greatest compliments.

We're gonna try this. Excited?