You Are All Cherished

Celebrate !!

Yesterday we spent a lovely day visiting my first surrofam celebrating the birthday of sweet boy who is now 3!!!  I can't believe it.  The squishy "little" baby I helped welcome into the arms of his mom and dad is no longer a baby, not even a toddler - he's a preschooler!

It is always such a pleasure to be surrounded by A&T, their friends and family.  We had a great time visiting with everyone and enjoy the French cuisine T had prepared to compliment the "Paris" theme of the party - which was the destination of Mr. G's latest adventures.

He's a busy guy and had a blast playing with our girls.  They all get along so well and I just adore watching them play and laugh together.  He was spoiled of course by plenty of gifts and had a fun opening them all - well all but the clothes that is.  Our gift had a construction zone theme and he seemed to enjoy the wooden cars, puzzle, and book we gave him. 

In our usual fashion we stayed late into the evening hours and had a wonderful time with all.

Visiting with the Munchkins in Mexico!!!

Last week this time I was sipping my coffee overlooking the Pacific Ocean from a beautiful villa in Mexico while listening to my lil surrotwins coo and squeal at each other.  It was surreal.

Jason and I made our way from Chicago O'hare to the very tip of the Baja Peninsula - twelve hours of travel, two planes and a car ride later - we joined K&S, Ryan and Mason and K's parents at the Pueblo Bonita Sunset Resort in Cabo San Lucas Mexico.  Our days were filled with lounging, sipping on margaritas and Mexican beers, great food and lots of baby slobber and the occasional blowout diaper.  It was perfect. LOL

The boys are getting so big and have such adorable personalities.  They are both pretty relaxed and easy going.  Ryan is quick to smile and show off his one tooth (with another not far behind).  Mason sometimes needs a little time to warm up but once he's ready to play he's all giggles and goofy grins too. Considering they were completely out of their usual surroundings both boys, in my opinion, did awesome.  As we know with babies, one thing that can lead to disaster is if they don't sleep well but, R&M slept in their cozy quarters at night and took the occasional nap in the swing with the warm breeze blowing in through the open patio doors with no problems. The two cuties took a couple of dips in the pool, the water was so warm and relaxing.  I missed out on swimming with them but was told Ryan is a little fish and loves sticking his face in the water while Mason liked to float around and chill. It was wonderful getting in almost a full week of snuggles and to share this time with them and as I always say, the best thing about these visits is just watching them as a family and seeing how in love everyone is with these boys.

Ryan

Mason

We also got out a few times, adults only which was a lot of fun.  The first night we had dinner out and had to make an obligatory visit to Cabo Wabo.  K and I had a great time dancing and were filled with energy and emotion when our theme song came on - Bon Jovi's "Livn' on a Prayer".  The last time we sang out this song together was over a year ago just before our third IVF attempt - wow how things have changed since then!!!

We made a second trip into Cabo later in the week.  We took a stroll down Medano Beach where we happened upon some Spring Break style entertainment (aka wet t-shirt contest). LOL  We had an amazing dinner on the beach and then went to a couple other must visit establishments - NoWhere Bar and Squid Roe.  Fun night!

Another highlight for me, visiting the spa.  A one hour Swedish massage - why yes that would be great!  Besides all that we of course enjoyed time hanging by the pools and soaking up the war
m sunshine.  I was in heaven as I'm a sun and sand kinda girl.

I think we were all anxious to get home but knew we'd miss the weather as we headed back to Chicago since Spring has barely sprung despite it being almost May.  We all headed to the airport together where we said our goodbyes and jumped on separate flights home.  The great thing about my relationship with my surrofam is that I know it won't be goodbye for long.  I feel so incredibly lucky that they continue to be a part of our lives and I get to watch these two boys grow.  Love you all and thank you for an amazing week!!!

I've added some more pics of the boys to the PHOTO ALBUM (contact me for password) and there are others posted on Facebook as well.  

Birthday Wishes!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Giovanni!  It feels like just yesterday that this 10 lb bouncing baby boy entered the room and changed lives forever.

It was so nice to get a message from his momma today, "Thinking about you and eternally greateful for the beautiful gift you gave us three years ago today!  Much love from our family to you, today and everyday."

We will all be celebrating together this weekend.  Can't wait to see how big he has gotten since our visit the end of last year.

Happy Birthday!!!

Sharing Surrogacy

It's a snow day here in Northern Illinois - schools are closed and several businesses including the dental office I work at.  I figured this would be a good time for me to catch up in the blog world and see what all my fellow surrogates have been up to.  That's when I came across a post that I wanted to share with you all regarding talking to others about surrogacy.

Just like my fellow surro-sister and blogger Jeni (Love Makes a Family), I get emails frequently from both woman considering to be a surrogate and woman (men)  looking to build a family through surrogacy.  I find great joy in answering questions and helping them navigate the complex world of surrogacy.  I am an open book and I'm proud to share my experiences and also the knowledge I've acquired over my almost six years in the surrogacy community.  My dream would to be able to do this as a job, perhaps working for or owning an agency but, until then I'm content connecting with these women in my free time.

I hear from hopeful intended parents praising me for what a selfless thing I've done but, I always respond by saying that my life has been enriched by surrogacy just as much as the couples I've helped.  It's an amazing process that has helped me grow emotionally and challenged me to be a more loving, caring, understanding person.  I also love to share my experience with other woman hoping to follow in my footsteps and become a surrogates themselves.  I can't say I've ever convinced anyone to be a surro, it's something they already feel and have a passion for - they just sometimes need a helping hand navigating the process and an idea of where to get started.

The following post has a lot of useful information and tips about how to broach the topic of surrogacy and discuss the subject with others.  Love Makes a Family - Talking With Others About Surrogacy

As always, please feel free to email me - surrogates & intended parents alike.  I love hearing from blog readers and being of help if I can.

Time for a Mini Update

Hello there everyone!  I hope the start to the New Year has been treating you all well.  We've been very busy getting settled into our new life and routine.  I've been back at my old job at the dental office for several months now and I really am enjoying it.  Getting accustomed to the new schedule is another thing, I'm not use to being away from home and the girls so much but, we're chugging along.  We LOVE our new home and hosted a housewarming party last weekend with a wonderful turnout.  Thank you so much to all who joined us or sent their congrats.

Besides the obvious day to day stuff that's been keeping me busy, I've challenged myself to become more fit and spend several hours at the gym each week.  Although I feel comfortable in my own skin and think that despite 6 pregnancies and 7 babies over the last 18 years I'm doing alright, it is my mission to get in even better shape so that once I reclaim my body for good it will be one I am proud of.  (Yep, I'm not done with surrogacy just yet but no details to share at this time).  I've got some great motivators that keep me going and make the workouts fun.  Five months postpartum with twins and I'm a good 5+ pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight now, 10 pounds from my goal weight and gearing up for my second 5k in a couple of weeks with several others planned for later in the year.  I'm working on increasing my speed before considering longer distances, not sure I'll ever be a "runner" but for now this works. :)  Our family adopted some new eating habits while I was pregnant with the twins so this was just the next step and it's been more enjoyable then I'd have ever imagined.

Another big motivator for the "Me Revolution" was when K&S invited Jason and I to spend a week with them  and the babies in Cabo as our Christmas gift!  We are floored by their generosity and feel so blessed that they have continued to be so kind and so grateful for our role in their journey to become parents.  We are Mexico bound in just 6 weeks and can't wait to spend this time with them enjoying each others company and the sunshine.

Just after our return we'll be visiting with A&T to help them celebrate Giovanni's 3rd birthday - WOW can you believe it!

I'll be sure get lots of pics and I'm sure will have some great stories to share after both visits.  I'm hoping to get us ALL together this summer here at our home too - I'd love a picture with all SEVEN of the "babies" I've had a hand in bringing into this world.

To be continued ...