Touch down in Mumbai!

After almost 24 hours of travel, we have arrived in Mumbai. We had a lay over this morning in Frankfurt, Germany. Germany was very interesting. I noticed two things immediately about Germany: 1. the people are very tall there and 2. they drink beer with breakfast. I couldn't get over watching men and women eat their breakfast and down a beer. It was hysterical. Even on the flight to Mumbai, they offered (for free, in coach) beer, wine, Bailey's, and something else I can't seem to remember right now.

We are exhausted to say the least. We did not sleep much on the first flight, but we did catch up on sleep on the second flight. We arrived here in the middle of the night and it was humid and damp out. The car driver said the monsoons have been pretty bad so far, let's hope the rain stays away while we are here.

We contacted our parents and told them we were here safely. We talked with Stevie and he cried for the second time since we've been away. That has been the hardest on us so far. He makes me just want to get on a plane and turn right around and go home. Please keep us and our families in your prayers this week as it is going to be hard to be away from each other. Thanks and talk more tomorrow!!

Packing Our Bags

Here we are, in NJ, getting ready to leave on our big trip to India tomorrow. We have so much to do before we get on the plane, I'm exhausted even thinking about it. We spent most of today unpacking what we brought with us and then had a lovely dinner with friends and family.

We have already skyped with Stephen and we miss him tons already. I would love to write more, but I am exhausted and need to get to bed. Just really wanted to say....

WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!! YAY!!!

2WW

We are in the 2WW as in.... getting to India. This time, two weeks from now, we will be landing in Mumbai. It is crazy to think of how fast it has come again. We are praying for a wonderfully successful trip. As many of you know, there is a lot of planning involved in a trip like this. It consumes your life as you scrutinize the blogs and forums for more information on your docs, friends, and results. It is also very emotionally taxing. We are gearing up for our journey and starting to get all the little details in order.

Tomorrow, we close on our house. We will be "homeless" technically. We will also be without the general monthly expenses. That sounds nice, even if it is just for a month or so.

I have been watching the news tonight and am happy to see that Joran van der Sloot has been captured and is resting comfortably in jail tonight in Peru. I hope they nail his ass to the wall. I always followed the Natalie Holloway case and wondered how they let that guy go free. I hope that he gets what he has coming and these two families can have some peace in their life, knowing that justice has been served. Now, if you know me, I never speak about things like this, but I can't hold it in. Every dog has its day!

We've got a lot going on this week. This is my last week of school with students. It is kinda sad because I am going to miss them. I always miss my students. Also, because I will not see them again for a while. I'm sure when I visit, I will stop by school to say hi to all my friends. I have a small procedure happening Tuesday. So keep your fingers crossed for me. Nothing big, just necessary to help out with our results in India.

Stephen made it through his surgery just fine. I did break down and cry when they wheeled him away to the OR. My hubby comforted me just as he should. Before we knew it, the doctors were coming out telling us that he was out of the OR and in the Recovery Room. After one good vomit, he felt much better. By noon, he was riding his bike and jumping on his trampoline.

Well all my blog friends, it is time to say goodnight. Hope you all have a good week and talk soon!!

New places, new faces

Ohmygosh!! Life has been beyond crazy for us these past weeks, but more specifically this weekend. We moved out of our house and have relocated into my in-law's house. They have graciously invited us (me, Stephen, Stevie, Buddy, and Max) into their home. We are calling this home for a little while and Stevie doesn't understand why we can't go to our "home". It's time for new places, my son.

Buddy has already fallen into the pool. He tried to walk across the cover and realized his mistake very quickly. Thankfully, Stephen was there to the rescue. We are the only couple with a lab who does NOT like to swim or even get wet! Other than that, we have been lucky moving in.

We leave for India in just over two weeks. We are very excited, nervous, anxious, basically a whole gamete of emotions. We have our flights booked, working on the hotel, and I have all my meds.

Before I close this post, I would like to ask for you to say a special prayer for our son, Stephen. He is having a minor surgical procedure tomorrow to open his tear ducts and to have his adenoids taken out. It does not take long for both surgeries (the eye dr. and e.n.t. dr. are working together so it is only one procedure). He will only be under for about an hour, but I'm sure it will feel like the longest hour EVER!!! Thanks for the prayers and positive thoughts. :)

Is it time to stress yet??

We just got through an important week: Stephen's birthday week. Yes, his birthday was on the 11th, but we celebrated for an entire week. It started off in NJ last Friday night. It was a small, quick celebration. It was a birthday weekend, Jackie, Stephen, Uncle John, Uncle Ed, and Meaghan all celebrated birthdays last week. When we got home, we had a family dinner on Tuesday night with Stephen's mom, dad, sister, and grandma. Then this weekend, we had the little kids celebration, complete with a bounce house! It was soooo much fun. The adults got in and bounced also. He thinks it is still his birthday.







We can't believe that he is three already. I cannot believe how fast time goes by. He is such a sweet boy, but definitely testing the water with us. He says or does the opposite of what we ask. Sometimes it is humorous, sometimes it is frustrating. For example, at dinner tonight, we asked him to sit down in his chair the right way. He responded that he would sit down the left way. We couldn't help but laugh. It was kinda funny.

So, should we talk about stress? We are closing now on the 7th of June. That is 3 weeks from today. That is two weekends to pack. We will be staying with my in-laws for a few days because I won't finish school until June 15th. We went house hunting last weekend while we were up in NJ and put an offer in on a house. But, we lost it this week to another offer! Whatever!! Not much more I want to say about that. It wasn't meant to be.

We are on track with our trip to India. We are leaving on June 18th. We are hoping to stay 10-11 days. Once we get back to the US, we will be moving up to NJ. To my parents' house. We thought we'd live with our both our parents until they kick us out! hahaha. Kidding. We are thankful that they will both let us reside with them here in NC and in NJ.

Random thoughts

There are so many things on my mind lately, it's hard to remember if we are coming or going. The first piece of great news is that we are under contract with our house in NC. This happened way sooner than we ever imagined!! We put it up on the internet Monday, had a showing Wednesday, offer Friday, and contracts signed Sunday night. Wow... talk about fast paced! So Friday night came in with an offer and it was bittersweet. I actually had tears in my eyes. Although I am very excited about going back to NJ, I am really going to miss this house. We had it built, we picked out all the extras, we have done a ton of work to it. Plus, the biggest is Stephen's room!! He has the cutest mural painted on the walls. He is out growing it, but I still love it. I would love to have it replicated in our new house for our future children. We are also going to miss our family and friends. Saying goodbye is never easy. I feel a lot of tears coming on over the next 6 weeks. :(





Stephen has been traveling quite a bit over the last few weeks and I really just want him home. We have to start packing and making our plans to move and go to India. Speaking of India, we have chosen our new surrogate. We are very excited to meet her and let her help build our family. But today, for some reason, I thought about our visas to get in to India. Well, much to my dismay, our visas expire on June 22, 2010. We were planning on going to Mumbai on June 18th. Hmmm.... Big problem here. I am not sure how we are going to solve this one. I have read that you have to wait a month after the expiration date to apply for a new visa, which would put us into August. But, I've also read that you can apply earlier, while your current visa is still legit. Please advise if you know! We are going to try to apply early.

I am running a 5K this weekend. It is for two great causes: 1. Girls on the Run and 2. Susan Komen breast cancer research. Girls on the Run is a great program that is in my school. I've been asked to run by a girl in my class. She had to have an adult complete the race with her. I was really honored and excited that she would ask me to do this with her. I have been training for the past few weeks, but wouldn't you know that I have a cold this week! UGH! I am taking it easy and saving all my energy for Saturday morning. I am happy to support breast cancer research because so many women (including my dear Nana) are stricken with this. There are many survivors in our school and I am happy to run for them!

I have had the "why can't I just get pregnant" talk with so many friends lately. It seems like everywhere I turn, women are dealing with infertility issues. I am no different and the advice I can give is to hang in there, stay positive, and believe. We make life what we want it to be for ourselves. I am a big believer of visualization, positive thinking, and prayer. I had the most wonderful dream a few weeks ago about my Nana. She is in heaven now for two and a half years. I was laying in bed in my dream and Nana came and hovered right above me. She looked radiant. Her hair was done in curls and she had pink lipstick and was dressed in a white and pink striped shirt. She had a conversation with me that went something like this:
N: "What it is that you want?"
D: "Nana, I just want a brother or sister for Stephen."
N: "Which would you rather have?"
D: "I wouldn't mind a boy again, we have all the clothes and toys. I wouldn't mind a girl either."
N: "Well, it's going to be a girl. Get ready." "Now, stay calm, don't stress, and relax."
D: big smile on my face when I woke up


This is Nana with Stephen at 3 mos.

I believe that good things are ahead for us. Last year our big dilemma was if we should stay here in NC or go back to NJ. Well, that has been answered. I think this is the year when things start falling into place for us. The stars are lining up just like they have throughout my life. We are ready for the ride again!

Here We Go....

Stephen celebrating Easter


Me, Emily (cousin), and Stephen dying eggs

So many updates to share with you all!!

First, school has been beyond busy this year and I have been under lots of paperwork for most of the year. Thankfully, we only have 41 days left! Woohoo!!!!!!

Second, Stevie is turning 3 next month, on May 11th. Wow, time really flies. It seems just like yesterday that I was pushing that little man out. He has really grown into the terrible two's lately. Every answer is "no", "I don't want to", but we are managing well. Hopefully this will not last long.

Next, we are moving back to NJ! Yay! We are relocating for Stephen's new job. It was an opportunity he just couldn't pass up. He actually has been working from here for the last month with his new company and loves it. It is nice to have him loving what he does :) We are planning on moving to NJ early July. I get out of school June 15th, so shortly after that. We have been having an open house as often as possible to help sell it as quickly as possible. We are listing in on all the common websites to help gain exposure. St. Joseph is already hiding in the bush to help attract buyers. He has worked at the last three houses.

We are waiting for July to move because we are headed back to Mumbai to visit our good friends at SI. In fact, we just notified them of our surrogate choice tonight. We are going to leave hopefully right after I get out of school. We will spend our 2WW packing, driving, and unpacking, which will unload a lot of nerves. We are hoping again for a positive and a better experience after we receive that positive. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts.

I would love to blog more often, but things are just a little bit crazy right now. I have been applying online for teaching jobs in a state where the governor slashed the budget and is now threatening the pension system. Online applications take forever to fill out and you attach a resume on top of that! I hope that I get something, but secretly wouldn't mind spending sometime with my little man. So between current job, looking for a new job, moving, packing, and planning a trip to India, we are limited on free time. I have to secretly admit we do spend a lot of our free time on FB playing bejeweled ;) What a great way to de-stress!!