New Additions to our New House

Today we found kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets installed and our bookshelves were sitting in the middle of the living room waiting to be installed. They are covered in plastic so paint wouldn't get on them. This is only a portion of the cabinets but this picture shows more cabinets than we have in our entire apartment kitchen - no joke.

Our house also has front porch banisters.

Majority of the painting is done inside. They haven't done any trim work yet though.

The garage door was installed along with the garage door opener. No electricity yet so we can't try it out.

All that's left is light fixtures, yard work, floor covering, sinks and toilets installed, gutters, driveway and sidewalk poured, and I think that's it except for major cleaning up inside.

New Year's Resolutions

Mine and Tony's conversation this morning.....

M: So, today is New Year's Eve. 2006 has got to better than 2005.

T: 2005 wasn't so bad.

M: Don't you remember the entire month of April?

T: But we also completed paperwork for the adoption, found out we're expecting twins, I got a better job making more money....

M: But 2006 we'll have our twins and we'll have Madelyn here

How much better can that be to bring in three children into your home in one year? We'll also be moving in to our new house hopefully in the next 30 days. Sounds like a good year to me.

My resolutions for 2006:

1. I will get a full night's sleep one day, may not be until end of 2006 but I will get it. (Lately I can't sleep b/c of back pain from carrying these babies and I'm up all night long.) When the twins arrive, I can forget sleeping through the night and there will also be some adjustments too when Madelyn arrives. Maybe by December next year we'll all be settled in and have normal lives (fingers crossed).

2. I will become more physically active (that's a given since I'll have four kids to take care of.)

3. Works towards becoming debt free except for House and Adoption Expenses. After 2007 we can work towards paying off Adoption loans after we're able to file the adoption tax credit. Tony and I are taking a Crown Financial Class at church which is a Biblical Financial Study. Our goal is to pay off small debts and work towards savings and retiring early and being able to help our children through college.

I could list more but I probably wouldn't keep those resolutions. At least these three are good goals to aim for and possibly achieve.

Happy New Year's to everyone!

Like Father, Like Son

Logan played video games last night for about 2 hours straight and wouldn't leave the couch. He played until he plopped over on the couch and about fell asleep. It's his father's dream for Logan to love video games as much as he does. Now Tony will have a playmate before long for all his games he plays. Logan received this VTech VSmile for his birthday this year and for Christmas he got the Bob the Builder game for it. It's much easier for him to play and he loved it last night when we plugged it all up for him. 

Gestational Diabetes

I found out today that I failed the 3-hour gestational diabetes. I have to go for counseling on Jan 5th and learn how to prick my fingers. I'm definitely not looking forward to that. I just hope I can control it by diet and avoid insulin injections. This is not going to be easy but I'm going to try to follow their rules and hope I can keep my sugar levels where I don't need extra help with insulin.

Infertility Struggles

As I sit her with pain every day carrying twins and wishing every day it was time for our referral for our baby from China, I can't help but think of all the women that still struggle to have a child. Not everyone can adopt nor can they all afford the doctor bills that accumulate with infertility battles. I am thankful every day I kept on and on trying to have the family we wanted and now we're being blessed with more than we ever thought we would have.

I've never shared my complete story of battling infertilty so I decided to share on my blog. I know some women have been through even worse than I have. It takes a toll on a woman's body and her mind. It's heartbreaking and painful but in the end many know they did the right thing and know it was all worth everything they've been through.

Back in 1999 at my regular GYN physical, I discussed with my GYN that I was ready to have a baby. Unfortunately though for me, I didn't have periods. I had two that entire year and both were with the help of provera. We were about to move into our new home so I said I wanted to wait and start whatever he thought we could try after our move and we were settled into our home. By January 2000, I went back to him and discussed clomid. We weren't too keen on the idea of fertilty drugs at that time so what my GYN tried to do was to get me on cycle and see if that could start ovulation. For 6 months I was to try provera on a regular schedule to have normal periods. Well, that's all it did for me, nothing else (except for the side effects that can occur with this drug). So, by July I was on clomid at the lowest dosage possible.

With clomid, I was given a chart to indicate all of my morning temperatures to see if there was ever an increase indicating possible ovulation. I took a thermometer with me everywhere I went, even to the beach when I went off on a girl's weekend once. I also had to go in every month mid-cycle to have a pelvic exam to make sure I was not being overstimulated with clomid. First cycle of clomid didn't even give me a period - no ovulation occurred. Dosage was increased to 100mg 5 days - nothing again. Dosage was increased to 150 mg 5 days - nothing again. By the third try I'm really depressed. My GYN decided to refer me to another doctor.

I thought I was being referred to a reproductive endocrinologist but it turned out he wasn't, but I didn't know this until many months later. He was just an OB/GYN that worked more with women with infertilty problems. He tested me for several things and diagnosed me with PCOS. This was the first time I had ever heard of this. I never knew all those years that was my problem and why I had no periods and about every thing else that comes with PCOS. He decided to put me on 150 mg of clomid for 7 days instead of 5 and do a vaginal u/s to check follicles. This was around Christmas time in 2000. I had never had one of these scans before so I was a bit nervous about that (to date - I've had millions of these now I think). Good news finally, I had some growing follicles which meant if they could reach a certain size, more and likely they would release an egg. I went back in one week later and I had finally ovulated for the first time on clomid and who knows when the last time that ever had happened. But then there was bad news, I wasn't pregnant again, but I did get a period without any help of provera.

After that cycle, this doctor added Glucophage. It's a diabetic pill to help treat insulin resistance which I had. I wasn't considered diabetic though. I used the same meds the next three cycles with u/s's each month to check follicle size. I also those last three months received an hcg injection. By the 7th try on clomid, on April 1st 2001, I had my first positive pregnancy test. It was April Fool's Day and I took several tests just to make sure and we called all my family immediately. I was so excited.

Before I was 6 weeks pregnant I began to bleed. I had a scan on one day shy of 6 weeks and it revealed a beating heart. Again, we were so excited tears flowed down our cheeks. I was rechecked the following week and found out we had two babies - TWINS! One heartbeat was not like it should have been so for the next week we prayed and prayed for Baby B. They were identical twins - same sac. Baby A was given a 97% chance of survival b/c of his/her strong heartbeat. At 8 weeks, April 26, 2001, after waiting an hour in the waiting room worried what we would find out about Baby B, we discovered there were no heartbeats at all. Our hopes and dreams were destroyed. This doctor was so rude about it too and I still wish to this day Tony had knocked him out. All he could say to me was "What do I saw....DARN, it didn't work" and that was it. The following day I had a d&c performed by my GYN who was so generous enough to fit me in b/c it was the weekend and I just couldn't wait until Monday to get it over with.

After physically healing (mentally I never got over it just learned how to cope), I wanted to try again. I discussed with my GYN other possibilities but was told the other doctors had waiting lists. The doctor that had helped me get pregnant didn't (now I know why) had called an apologized and checked on me after my d&c so I decided to give him another chance. He did all the same meds two more times and I was finally pregnant again. I had to give this doctor credit for this b/c he gave me the best gift of all - Logan.

When Logan was one year old we wanted to try again but I was having trouble with my hands and wrists at that point and so I had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands over the summer. After I finally got to where they felt normal again, then I had trouble with my gallbladder AGAIN. This had been ongoing for years and finally while pregnant with Logan I found a doctor that said it was definiltey my gallbladder not functioning. I went ahead and had surgery again that year b/c I could get it free after meeting all my deductibles on my insurance from the other two surgeries.

By February 2004 I went back to the doctor that helped me get pregnant with Logan. I started back on all the same meds again, no retesting of anything. First try, no ovulation, even at same dosages that helped with Logan. Second try, I did ovulate but no pregnancy occurred. By the third try, no ovulation again and I was overstimulated and he placed me on birth control pills even after telling him I had in the past had problems with those pills. I was so frustrated with him that I called myself to a reproductive endocrinologist I found in the phone book and looked at his website and was able to get in within three weeks. I collected all my records and when I saw this doctor, I knew I had made the right choice.

Dr. P was very educated with PCOS women. One of the first things he said to me was and I'll never forget it "women with PCOS have the hardest time loosing weight. They almost have to starve themselves to lose and I don't ask them to do that." That was the first doctor that ever didn't hound me about my weight. He was so right.

He retested me for everything I had been tested for plus some. He started me out on clomid at a lower dosage b/c he said I shouldn't have been on such a high dosage anyway and readjusted my glucophage dosage. The first cycle did not work - no ovulation. He knew then not to go any further with clomid and we met to discuss more options.

I had two options - injectible meds that cost way over $1000 each month and not a high percentage they would even work and insurance doesn't cover it, or ovarian drilling surgery that had a good chance of working along with clomid again and most insurances paid for this surgery. In August 2004 I had this surgery. My ovaries were twice the size they should be and he drilled 19 holes into each ovary to allow the cysts to drain. Immediately after my surgery within about a week and a few days I had my first period on my own, no meds. I had to wait a month to recover before trying again but again I got my period on my own with no help of meds.

Well, the next few months weren't so great. Even with clomid I couldn't seem to get pregnant. Finally by Dec 2004 the week before Christmas I found out I was pregnant again. FINALLY!!!! What a year that had been. Unfortunately, at 19 weeks pregnant we lost our daughter Reagan to Triploidy. I've never been so hurt in my life as the day we found out she would never live. She was born and died on April 6, this year.

After her loss I never wanted to try again. I wanted to give up and adopt. We had researched domestic and international adoption before conceiving Reagan. I had saved all those papers even after finding out I was pregnant. Two weeks after her death, I pulled those back out again. I knew I still wanted another child. China was our next option to bring a child into our lives.

After loosing her, I discovered the ovarian driling surgery I had was still working. Research shows it tends to only work from 6-12 months and all the cysts will come back. I had regular 26 day cycles for three months after loosing her. This just wasn't normal for me at all. I could only believe that maybe I now had an angel watching over me and telling me this was a sign that maybe I could have another child. I did have Logan so I knew it was possible to give birth to a baby. We had all the paperwork done and waiting on the I-171H for the adoption when I decided to see Dr. P again. He reassured me that I could still have another baby but he only gave the surgery a few more months to actually work. It would have been a year by August this year that I had had the surgery so if I was going to try, I needed to start now. It took lots of convincing Tony that we should try again for another baby. I just felt like I couldn't give up yet. I still wanted to adopt no matter what. I was rescanned and my right ovary was covered in cysts but my left ovary was going to be the winner. We were amazed within four weeks to find out I was pregnant again. Not only that, I was carrying twins AGAIN.

I've made it pass the point I lost my first set of twins. I have passed the point I have lost Reagan and the scans show no signs of birth defects. When people say "Be careful what you wish for" they really mean it. Who knew we would have three new kids in the family in one year? It will definitely be exciting in our house in 2006 and the years to come.

I'm positive this will be it for us, but if not, we'll go back to China again. The paperwork is stressful, the waiting is long, but overall the adoption is easier and she is just as much mine as my other kids are. I can't wait to meet Madelyn as much as I can't wait to meet the twins.

Our Christmas Dinner

You guessed it.....Chinese Food. After all the unwrapping of presents, a nap and a little more playtime with the toys, we watched the old movie A Christmas Story. It's about a little boy that only wants a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas and everyone keeps telling him he'll shoot his eye out with it. Well, at the end of the movie, stray dogs destroy the family's Christmas dinner including the Turkey. They end up going out for Chinese. That made me want Chinese. I wasn't sure if there would be any restaurants open on Christmas Day but I called two different ones and they were both open. So, while Tony was out buying some more batteries, he stopped and picked us up Chinese take-out for our Christmas meal. We haven't had any since we moved so we weren't sure which places were the best. The food wasn't too bad but we've had better. It was a nice change from Turkey Holiday dinners. I've never cooked a turkey anyway but I plan on learning by next year when I have a family of 6 to feed.

Santa Made a Stop Here

Santa found his way here to visit us. Tony and I were up early this morning hoping Logan would wake up early but by 7am, we couldn't wait any longer and decided to wake Logan up. Here's how we found him in his bed this morning. He got his new Spiderman PJ's before bed last night. Logan got lots of toys, clothes and movies and even the lump of coal he was asking Santa for. His favorites were his new Geo Trax toys, Thomas movies, and a Matchbox playset.

Here's a before shot (before Tornado Logan
struck the living room).








Here's an after shot (the mess actually covered
the entire living room).








Madelyn, Nate and Andrew received a few gifts also from Santa even though they are not here yet (well two are but they are still baking). Here's a photo of Madelyn's dolls... The cabbage patch is from Mommy and Daddy, Baby Mulan from Santa, and the other Asian doll is from Logan. I'm going to leave them in the boxes at least until we're moved into our new house and setting up her room ready for her arrival.

Leia even got a few presents. She got a cat bed from Me and Logan, two toys from Logan, and Santa left her some food and treats.

Tony and I also exchanged gifts. He got some books he's been wanting to read and some sweaters. I got some maternity/nursing PJ's (b/c my belly hangs out of all the others I have), some charms for my zoppini bracelet and a new UNCC sweatshirt. I haven't had a UNCC sweatshirt since I graduated from their and now that we're living close to it again, Tony decided to make a trip to campus to buy one for me.

We forgot to check to see if we had video camera tapes. We ended up not being able to tape all the unwrapping b/c we ran out on the last empty tape we had. We also didn't make sure we had enough batteries for everything. I found enough spread randomly throughout the apartment for everything except Logan's Elefun game. It needed 4 C's and I only had 3.

Merry Christmas from the Hooker Family!!!!!

Family Photo

The photo is a bit dark. I'm in need of a new digital camera.

Flowers

I've been waiting on this for 8 months and wanted to share this beautiful glass piece with everyone. This was put together in Memory of our daughter Reagan. The roses were selected by Logan and placed on Reagan's grave the day of her funeral. I decided to save these and send to a place in my hometown to make this for me. They had made something similar with roses from my wedding bouquet. I finally got a call this week that it was complete. On the back is a note that says "In Memory of Reagan Anne Hooker" and lists mine and Tony's names as parents. I LOVE it! I can't wait to hang it in our new home. It will go in a special place viewable to all guests.

Christmas in Beijing

While folding clothes I flipped through the channels on TV and caught a channel talking about Christmas in Beijing. I wish I could have seen the whole thing but it was showing Christmas decorations in Beijing. There were decorations of sleighs with Santa, Santa's by benches, and other red and green decorations. They showed a wreath made of blue feathers instead of branches from Christmas trees. One person said they tend to call Santa "Old Man Christmas". One couple was interviewed and said they loved Christmas b/c of the food. Maybe Madelyn is having Christmas in her orphange. I really don't know. I wish she could be with us for Christmas, but I was excited just to see that at least some parts of China were celebrating the Holiday.

Merry Christmas, Madelyn.

Comments Strangers Make

Today Logan and I met a friend and her kids at Chick-Fil-A. Logan and I went to the bathroom and as we were coming 0ut, a lady sitting with two other women leans over to me and says "you're shirt is up." I thanked her and realized I didn't pull my shirt back down over my big baby belly and the elastic from my maternity jeans was showing. The lady beside her says "Are you having twins?" I was definitely taken off guard wondering how in the world did she know this. I just smiled and said yes and walked off. Am I that large that it's noticable that there are multiples? I never ask a pregnant women when she is due or if she is having multiples unless I know them. There are sometimes women that look like they are expecting and they are not so it's just a bit rude to assume she is pregnant without knowing for sure. I felt a little embarrassed but yet glad I didn't look just fat and there was a reason why I had such a large belly in front of me.

What kind of comments am I going to get when people see me with twin boys and Madelyn? We've considered saying "they are triplets" and see what kind of facial expressions we get back. There may not be much of an age difference. There may be some that think I'm just babysitting all these kids and they can't possibly be mine. We're up for a challenge that's for sure.

Goodies from our September DTC Secret Pal

Lots of goodies came yesterday from our September DTC Secret Pal. Leia had to get in on the picture. We got a lady bug pink blanket, red asian box (not sure if there's a correct name for this or not), panda bear ornament, sweet peas hanger, notepad (inside the purse) and a Christmas card. Logan received bubbles and the playdoh in the shape of a candy cane. He loves the candy cane. He said this morning "Look, my candy cane up-side-down is a J. I like it, Mommy."

Furious with USPS

I'm so glad I have a FedEx account b/c after today my packages will never go out by USPS again (at least not through any office in Charlotte). The USPS worker ticked me off so much today. I decided to go to this post office b/c it's smaller than the one I normally go to and figured the lines would be smaller. They were smaller but it was still a long line. There are two people at the counter working and man strolling the lines to check boxes and help people get them boxed up correctly. This man hanging out in the lines was an employee and he saw my box and after I told him it was media mail, he said the box was okay and to tape it up, so I grabbed some tape and started doing that but then he said I had the wrong tape and if I used it I couldn't send media mail. So I ripped it off and asked him if the people at the counter could tape it. I explained that I didn't tape it b/c in the past I had to prove I had media mail and had to unwrap a package before.

Anyway, after waiting and waiting in line I get to the register and the lady first tells me my box is too flimsy. The man I had already spoken with had said my box was okay which I told her and so she said I had to tape it up. I said right back and pointed to the man I had spoken with that he said it could be taped up at the counter. There was tape laying on the counter and I picked it up and she says back to me "No, you have to go buy your own tape" and points to where it is. I said, "No, I'm not getting back in line just for tape after I've already been told it could be taped up here." She repeated again with a hateful voice to buy my own tape and not to use what was in my hand even though it was the exact same tape. She said I would have to wait until another person was available to help me and get back in line. I was ticked off. I turned around and said out loud, "Heck if I'm waiting back in this long line." I got some facial expressions back that told me the others agreed with me and I stormed out that door. I was so mad. I had Logan with me too so not only was I wasting my time there, I was having to keep him from being the typical 3 year old boy.

Fortunately I have some FedEx labels that I had requested during all the paperchase for the adoption and will be sticking one of these on my box. They'll be getting more business from me from now on. If anyone knows where I can put in a complaint on USPS workers, please let me know.

News from China

Due to child smuggling in Hunan province China has closed Hunan province to International adoptions. Since there won't be as many orphanages, there may be even fewer paper work ready children, possible causing even further delays. I hope this doesn't affect those that have already received referrals and are waiting to travel to China.

Our House Dec 18th

I finally remembered my camera today when we visited our house. Here's the front complete with brick and siding. Madelyn's room will be the room with the double windows on the 2nd floor. Logan's windows look out to the left side, and the twins' windows look out to the back.

A Mother Gets to Brag

Today we had a 3D/4D ultrasound for the twins. Here's just a few pictures. We also received a DVD of the entire session. Both babies were very squirmy and are so close together that it was not that easy to get clear pictures of them.

August DTC Secret Pal Strikes Again in December

Last night when I checked my mail I had a slip that there was a package at the apartment office. Of course mail doesn't come until after the office closes so I didn't get it until today. This time we received a beautiful frame that says "Family" at the bottom. Even though we don't know who our secret pals are, I do know what this one looks like now. She sent a famiy photo on their Christmas card. They have three beautiful daughters and all the girls were wearing matching dresses. They were just precious. The biggest hit was a gift sent to Logan....a music box that has a train inside it that goes around in circles. He LOVED it. He says everytime we wind it up, "I like it, Mommy, I like it."

Thanks again Secret Pal.

Our New House Nov 16

We made a visit to our new house last night. It's really looking like a real house now. The brick is all up in the front, siding was almost complete, sheetrock hung everywhere but the garage and the upstairs even had sheetrock mud waiting to be sanded. The builders are giving us disappearing stairs in the garage so I assume that's why there is no sheetrock hung in there yet. If the house had heat and a working toilet, I think I'd move on in. Next week might be a slow week for the contractors due to Christmas Holiday but maybe they'll still be able to stick to schedule and we can move in by end of January.

Are Two Heads Better Than One?

A Surprise in My Mailbox

Tonight I found an envelope in my mailbox with a present just for me in it....Steven Curtis Chapman "All I Really Want for Christmas" CD. I received this from a wonderful new friend I met this year. She and I were introduced after the loss of our daughters to the same birth defect. We've never met in person but it seems like we chat almost every day and have developed a great friendship.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife have adopted three daughters from China. The CD pictures him and his daughter Shaoey. I also have a book by the Chapman's Shoey and Dot. I've heard some of his Christmas music on the radio and can't wait to hear them all.

Thanks so much, Allison!!!!

A Dreary Day

Today Logan and I were stuck in this little apartment with not much to do, nothing to munch on and couldn't go anywhere b/c of the ice outside. A hormonal woman and a hyper 3 year old in small quarters doesn't mix well. Today he should have been in preschool but it was canceled b/c of public school delays. I love my two days a week that I get three hours each of those days alone. He loves preschool to probably get away from me too for a little while. I played Hi-Ho Cherry-O only about 2 dozen times today along with Pop-Up Pirate. Leia even jumped in and played with the cherries and the spinner. I was so bored I started packing a box getting ready for our move hopefully by end of next month. We don't even have much here but I was looking for anything I could go ahead and pack up. I even tried to teach Logan how to use the vacuum cleaner but I was unsuccessful. I was however successful at getting him to collect laundry and place it in the washing machine. He wanted to help fold but I knew that wouldn't get done right so I talked him into watching cartoons while I finished the laundry. It want be long though that I'll be teaching him how to fold clothes. Hopefully tomorrow will be a clear day and we can go out for a little while or else we'll be even more stir crazy than we were today.

A Solution for Women Using the Squatty Potties

On The Go This one looks a little easier to use.

Travel Mate This looks more like a baby's measuring spoon.

I can't believe they actually make these products but it does makes sense to use these for women that are handicapped, but they just might come in handy when visiting foreign countries with no toilets like ours.

March of Dimes

After I lost Reagan, I promised myself that I would walk every year for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. Tony and I raised over $500 this year in one week's time for the Walk this past April in Winston Salem. We signed up the weekend after loosing Reagan and completed the walk by the following weekend. This time I have almost 5 months to raise money so I plan on beating this goal. I will be walking at Concord Mills in May 2006. It will be hard to resist from stopping at the stores but I'll try. Here's my pledge page.

http://www.walkamerica.org/mphooker

Money doesn't have to be turned in until time for the walk. Many employers match contributions. Please help us beat last year's goal.

Me and the Twins

I've seen two doctors this week already...my Perinatologist and my OB. All three of us are doing great except that I failed the glucose screening so I have to go for another next week. The boys are estimated at 1lb 9oz each still measuring over a week and a half ahead. Logan felt the babies kick for the first time last night. They've been kicking for a while but he was never patient enough to wait but now they kick all the time. Hard to believe that they'll be making their appearance before long. We're guessing end of February or early March.

I heard the same comments again at McDonald's today about having my hands full and "I'm glad I'm not you" when asked when my babies were due. I like to throw in we're adopting too and that always raises the eyebrows. It's obvious I'm pregnant but not obvious I'm waiting on a daughter so of course I'm going to brag about our adoption also.

All Pooped Out

We took Logan to see the Christmas Lights in McAdenville and all the excitement wore him out. He wanted to wear his Santa hat there and this is how he looked when we got out of the van after leaving the lights.  

Squattiepotties

I hope we're not sent to an area in China with these around.

The "Infamous" Pit Toilet

"Mentions God"

I'm subscribed to two yahoo groups for my DTC date. They are suppose to be used for talking about adoption - the wait, preparing for the arrival, referrals, etc. Lately, however; there has been uproar about mentioning God in posts. I've been staying out of the conversation but it's really getting old and I'm ready to put my 2 cents in or maybe even unsubscribe.

Obviously there are non-believers on the group or either they have other religious beliefs and they are now offended with someone saying things like "this is all God's doings" or "God is in control" just to name a few. I'm a believer but if I found something I didn't believe in as far as religion goes, I'd hit the DELETE key. I can't understand why others don't do the same but instead they have to complain over and over about mentioning God in posts or either they want the subject field to include "mentions God" so they can delete before reading. It seems like every other message is complaining about this now. Can't these people just grow up and ignore the messages if they don't believe in God? Stop complaining so much.

In our situation, I do believe God is in control. The wait to referral was postponed for many reasons and I think the best reason for us was to give us time to adjust to having our twins first and then bring Madelyn into our home. I am upset I have to wait longer for my daughter but it is in our favor. It may even give me the chance to travel instead of Tony traveling alone (or with a friend). It also gives us more time to move into our new home and prepare for her arrival.

God is in control and there's nothing we can do about it and for those that don't believe in that or in him, then so be it. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.

My Early Christmas Present

I used my gift certificate today at Edamame Maternity spa for a massage and facial. It was wonderful! I enjoyed the facial the most. That was the 2nd facial I had ever had done and it was just as enjoyable as the first one. The massage felt great too, especially on the feet, but I was so tense during it. I laid on a mat made for pregnant women with the cutout belly part but I still felt like I was squishing my babies so I was worried the entire time and couldn't relax through it. My belly is very large right now and I can't imagine what it would be like much bigger than this laying on my tummy on one of those mats later on in the pregnancy. There's got to be a size limit on those cushions and I'm probably already at that limit.

The lady that did my facial also had a set of twins. She told me she was on bedrest by 23 weeks (that's me in two days) and delivered by 30 weeks. Her sons are 6 years old now and very healthy. My goal is to make it at least to 32 weeks and hope they can avoid NICU.

Of course I talked about Madelyn while I was there too. Everyone's reaction always seems to be "glad it's not me" when they learn we're having three kids in one year. It's getting old hearing this.

I kept a souvenir....flip flops. They told me the flip flops were disposable and to toss them in the trash when I was done. Maybe I'm weird but these flip flops looked better than the ones I had over the summer so I kept them and will probably use them walking to the pool in our new neighborhood this upcoming summer. Heck, I might need these if my feet swell up like they did at the end of my pregnancy with Logan.

Thank you, Tony, for my wonderful Christmas present. Hope there's another under the tree for me.

Walls going up soon

We had our pre-drywall walk-thru at our house yesterday. They had finished all the wiring, put up insulation since our last visit and finished the brick on the front of the house. We still don't have siding but I assume that is coming very soon. There was only one problem we found through the entire house, which we thought was just wonderful since our last house was just full of problems and we were never given a pre-drywall walk-thru when building it. We had been told we would have drop down stairs for the attic and that had been left out. We're waiting on an answer now to see if they can add it where it's suppose to go or maybe add one above our garage. I'm hoping for no bad weather between now and end of January b/c the goal is to get us in by end of next month.

Rain, rain, go away - same for snow too.

Logan and Leia

These two were so cute this morning. If he treated me like he does her, I'd hide all day long, but this time she actually jumped into my bed and laid down beside him while he was watching cartoons. She is a good cat even though sometimes I think she only has half a brain.

Can you see the Love in this picture?

Ebay Listings

I listed four books on ebay that my husband bought while I was pregnant with Logan. All are in excellent condition and only read once. See my listings below if you are interested...

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fatherhood
The Expentant Father
What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding
She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown

Congrats to all receiving referrals!

Today is a wonderful day for many families. They are seeing their babies pictures for the first time. I've been following The Laukats. Check out their beautiful baby girl. She is so precious as I'm sure all the other babies are too. This is the day we're waiting for. Referrals today are for DTC groups in April 2005.....8 months from DTC to referral.

More info on our new home

I got a call from our builder today that they are aiming at being completed with our new house Jan 26. WOOHOO!!!! On Friday, we meet with them to go over everything done so far before they put up drywall. We have a 6 month contract at our apartment so we may have to pay a house payment and rent at the same time but I really don't care as long as we are in our new home.

News from APC

Well according to several posts on APC, the CCAA will not be imposing weight restrictions and the singles quota was not affected either. They did mention that the CCAA is now taking over domestic adoptions and in the near future, the domestic adoptions will take presidence over international adoptions. They are also reporting a decrease in the amount of available children and stated that the wait times for referral will extend to about 9-10 months from LID although they will not be firm on any time frame.

This means we're looking at a possible June referral now.

We Have a Fireplace

I forgot to post earlier that another change from our last visit to today's visit to our new house included our new gas fireplace. I'm not sure why it's covered up unless it's to keep debree out. Our last house had a wood fire place and we never used it so we're really looking forward to having gas logs. The first time we used our wood fire place was after a few years living there we lost power during an ice storm and Logan was a baby so we had to have heat. A coworker of Tony's loaned him firewood. We were not prepared. We later were able to get a pile of wood from our neighbor's parents that had to have trees cut up that fell due to that ice storm. 

Logan's Preschool Class Photo

These are Logan's friends and teachers at his current preschool. We're thinking of changing him to the preschool of the church we've been visiting but I know he'll miss his friends. His best buddy is the little boy in the yellow shirt.

Happy Holidays!!!

Isn't Logan just the cutest posing with Santa this year? He actually told him he wanted a lump of coal for Christmas.

Another New Ornament for our Tree

Yes, I LOVE ornaments but this time I didn't buy it. However, if I had known prior to getting this that it was an ornament to represent families brought together by adoption, I would have bought it.

I met online a very nice lady DTC and LID same as mine and using same agency and we've been chatting back and forth for a while now. She bought this ornament for herself and told me about it and then went out to buy me one. I received it in the mail yesterday and Logan placed it on our tree this morning. The name of the Hallmark ornament is Family Ties and on the front of the ornament it says "Family Ties are woven out of Love." On the box it says "Hallmark is proud to support the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption andthe cause of helping parents and children find each other." It's a beautiful ornament and is already selling out. It's even sold out on Hallmark's website.

Dec 4th Update to our House

Today after church we drove by our new house not expecting to get out since it's been raining but when we got there, gravel had been laid in the driveway so we were able to get out and walk to the house on it instead of stepping in mud. Electrician's have been working this week but it didn't look as if they were finished. There was a note that the alarm system couldn't be placed in b/c there was no rough wiring so I'm guessing they should be back early this week to install the wiring for that. We did discover that the electrician's pre-wired for ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and we only paid for it to be done in the master bedroom. One day the kids might want ceiling fans so we're not going to say a word about it. We saw a few things missing and plan on going over this at our pre-drywall inspection.

I really don't see it being done by end of January. Unless they speed up, I'm thinking end of February now. It just seems to me they could be working much faster than this but then again it could be due to waiting on inspections, rain or something else we can not control.

Angel Tree

I love Christmas. As the song goes, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" I could just sing along with it.

This Christmas year is not going to be one of my favorite years. First of all I don't feel good. This pregnancy is kicking my butt. I ache all the time, restless at night, but don't get me wrong b/c I am happy to still be pregnant and carrying two boys. We're also crammed into this apartment. I really only have room to put up a tree and no other decorations. I miss my fireplace to hang my stockings on. I also miss my friends I moved away from. The band I play in at church is performing several times this season and I'm going to miss out this year mainly b/c the traveling back and forth wears me out and I'm also just too miserable to stand for a period of time and blow air into my flute. I also wish it was closer to having Madelyn home with us.

However, despite all of this, I hope I have made another kid happy this year. I missed the drop-off time for Operation Christmas Child that I usually participate in, so instead I chose an Angel off the mall Angel Tree. This year Logan and I took a name of a little boy 4 months old named Paco. I wrapped a box and filled it with some baby bath toys, shirt, gloves, and some books. It's not much but at least this will help the family out a little more this Christmas.

I want to continue the tradition with all my kids next year and years to come to either fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child or pull an Angel from the tree or maybe even both. Some children are not as fortunate as they are (or will be). We're not filthy rich but we can provide for our children and I hope they grow up understanding how lucky they are and be willing to help others that are not.