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!!

Christmas and 2010

So we are a bit late with sharing Christmas photos, but better late than never. We celebrated Christmas with Stephen's family the weekend before Christmas. It was a lot of fun to watch Stevie and his three cousins play. They had such a great time and Stevie keeps asking when they are coming back to NC. We received wonderful gifts from Santa with the Craters. The gift we were most excited about giving to Stevie was his Curious George. He is beyond obsessed with Curious at the moment. We also celebrated with Stephen's extended family at the Petree Christmas party. It was nice to see everyone and catch up.





After leaving the Petree party, we packed the car and headed to NJ. We usually stop in DC to spend the night with Laura and this time was no different. When we got to Laura's (she was already in NJ), there was roughly 2 feet of snow on the ground. It was exciting to see because we just don't get snow that often where we are. We got NJ early the next afternoon and started unpacking our truck. We thought it was full then, but we had no clue for what we were in for coming home.

We had a great time at my family's Christmas Eve party. It was nice to see all my family. We all try our best to make if for Christmas Eve and then go separate ways on Christmas Day. Stevie got to play with my younger cousins and it was so cute. He really likes hanging out with them and playing. I love to see the interaction between them all. He had a great time opening his gifts and got to bed a little past his bedtime that night. Some members of my family convinced us to go the Zoo for a drink or two after Stevie was asleep. That was a crazy idea, considering we did even have our gifts wrapped. But we went anyway. I think we got to bed around 2 or 3 that night.




Christmas morning was so exciting this year because Stevie was really excited about opening gifts. He received a lot of gifts from Santa. Grandma and Grandpa also indulged in giving Stevie gifts this year. Jackie and her family came over later evening and exchanged gifts. It was at this point that we realized it was going to be a challenge to get home.



Stephen gave me the best gift this year. He surprised me with tickets to Jersey Boys on Broadway and booked a room at the Hilton in Times Square. We did something very similar last year, but I knew about it. We had a delicious dinner in the city, at a restaurant recommended by James and Tiffany, a great time at the play, and then fun walking back to the hotel in the pouring rain. It was one of the yuckiest days I've ever seen in the city. Thanks babe for such a great surprise!

We spent the rest of the week ripping up my parents' bathroom on the first floor and re-tiling it. All I'm going to say about that project is too many cooks in the kitchen. Otherwise, it came out beautiful! We spent New Year's Eve with my mom, dad, Jackie, and Rich. We went to Que Pasta, a good Italian restaurant that serves homemade pasta. I love homemade pasta! We rang in the New Year and went to bed. My family came over the next day to celebrate 2010 and also a quick happy birthday to me.

We were sad to leave, but it was time to get home and back into the swing of things here in NC. We won't be back up in NJ until the spring and that seems like forever away! We did enjoy a visit from Meaghan right after we got home. Poor Stevie had a stomach bug while she was here. It didn't ruin the weekend, but it put a damper on things a bit. We enjoyed having Meg here and were very sad to see her go!

We're back...

We're back in the saddle again...

That is a funny song my dad used to sing when we were all driving in the car on summer vacation. I always think of it when things start to kick off, no matter what they are. We are getting back into the swing of things in our life. We just wanted to thank you all again for your love, support, and patience during the last 6-8 weeks. We are not defeated as we were once feeling, which is nice. We do have loose plans for the future, but are not up to sharing right now. Sorry!

So, Stephen has been in school for about 3 months now. It is amazing to see how well he is doing there. He wakes up everyday and asks if he can go to school. I hope that sticks! His sentences are getting longer and his vocabulary has quadrupled! It is unbelievable. He has made a few friends that he talks about regularly and gets excited to see them. It is just so cute. The best part of Stephen being at school is at the very end of the day, when we get to pick him up. He comes running with his arms open and hugs us. It is the best feeling in the entire world.

We spent Halloween up in NJ with my family. We went trick or treating with some of my high school friends and their children. It is hard to believe that we have kids now! It was nice to spend time with them and catch up. We got a chance to see lots of friends this time. Most of our meetings seemed to be at the Pub. Speaking of the Pub, I was able to bartend with my sis one night! It was so much fun. I helped her out for a private party. I am not sure how well the drinks tasted, but no one really complained. It was my first time mixing drinks and really bartending, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the stupid conversations that the customers were having with me and I enjoyed spending time with my sister! She is the bestest :)

It feels good to be back in the blogging world. I have been writing blogs in my head for a week or so now, so I knew it was time to give a little TLC to this site. Thanks, as always, for your love and support. Check back for regular posts now!

Hanging in

That is how we are doing. We are hanging in there, some days better than others. We can't thank you all enough (family, friends, and friends of friends) for your love and support during this time. It is incredibly difficult to still think about, but we will get through this. We have a little two year old that is gives us more joy each day. He has helped us laugh a little this week. We are trying to stay positive and encourage each other as much as we can. We spoke with Fr. Joe, which is also the priest who married us. He was a good sounding board and blessed our two angels that are in heaven. It was very emotional, but very healing. Please keep us, our surrogate, and our doctors in your thoughts. They are just as upset as we are. Stay tuned, we will be back.

:(

We lost our twins today. Please pray for us and our surrogate. She had a fall and miscarried. This is devastating news for all involved. :( :(

Summer fun

Stevie and I went to a museum two weeks ago with my friend, Jen, and her two children. Stevie had such a great time there and we are looking forward to going back soon. Here are some cute pics from that day :)



Stevie on the Magic School Bus



Yes, he is drilling into an enormous set of teeth!



Playing alphabet puzzles :)

Then last weekend, Stephen played in a softball tournament out in Mocksville. Stevie and I went to the first game and then went home. Stephen's team ended up winning the tournament. He had a great time swinging the bat. Here are some pics of Stevie at the tournament, in his Yankees' helmet, of course!