Vacancy

This is my "dead blog". I no longer post here, but you're welcome to follow me on my new family blog! 

Jess Cadena - Family Blog

See ya around!

Teaching our children to celebrate death?

Today is without a doubt, a day that will be marked in history. Nearly 10 years ago, I remember standing with my friends before school in shock thinking everything that was being said was just a dream. In class we watched as the towers fell, NYC filled with dust and debris from the fallen towers. People running, literally for their lives. We'll always be haunted by that day.

Today, I sit in shock overwhelmed with so many emotions. Sadness, joy, relief, disgust, bitter, terrified, thankful.... I'm just... sigh. I probably shouldn't even write at this point because I don't know where my mind is. 

I woke up from an evening nap, came to sit in the living room with my family to relax. Looked on Facebook, everything was crazy "Osama is DEAD". Still half asleep, we flipped the TV from what the kids were watching to CBS news.

My first reaction was to shout! I was excited! Almost 10 years later, he's finally been found! No more questioning it, it's him. Confirmed and all. One step closer! Then just before President Obama came on to speak, Bradley wanted to know what was going on. How do I tell him we're clapping and giving praise because a man is dead? How do I explain what this person has done? What am I suppose to tell my child? Am I suppose to teach my child that it's OK to be happy that this person died? I don't believe in sheltering my children from truth and the real world. But I do believe in protecting their youth and innocence. Do I open my child's eyes to the evil that goes on in our world? Or do I lie and make something up to feed his need to know?

I cried as I told him "The biggest bad guy in the world is dead." I cried for all the lives lost, and because I was tearing down my child's innocence. I explained that he killed a lot of people. Men, women, children. I'm sure that everything I tried to explain to him went over his head a bit. I'm glad that I was able to sit here and witness this day with my children, even if they wont remember it 20 years from now. 

I know it's my uncontrolled emotions that are all over the place, but I'm questioning myself. Did I tell him the right thing? I just explained to my son that a man was killed because of his actions, and we're celebrating it. 

No, I just taught my son to celebrate murder.

Isn't this what THEY did when they broke our invisible wall of invincibility? When they broke down our freedoms and made us fear for our lives? They CELEBRATED and ran rampant in their streets. CELEBRATED that they succeeded in killing so many lives. Is that who I want to be? What I want my children to be?

I'm not a political person. 99% of the time I stay out of anything related. I don't force my opinions, and I listen openly to other's. Politics aside, I stand behind the US Military men and women with 100% of my heart and pride. I'm so thankful for all that they have sacrificed to ensure our freedoms. I'm thankful for the families that stand behind, worrying over their soldiers when they're gone. So tomorrow, when we wake up and everything is still crazy, I'm going to make sure I sit down with my baby boy and talk. I will reiterate that Osama was a bad guy. I will tell him that 2,977 men, women & children died on 9/11. I will tell him that over 4,450 Americans have died because of the war. I will tell him that their lives were sacrificed to ensure that America remains the land of the free.

Tomorrow, I will tell my son that we are not celebrating murder. We're celebrating everyone who's lives have been sacrificed. We're remembering the lives that were taken too soon, the families who buried loved ones who went to war, and so much more. 

Even I am guilty of it, because I said it too. But "Justice" has not been served. Not yet at least. I can only imagine that this is fuel to an already burning fire. I'm worried f or what is coming in the near future.

God Bless America and our troops. The day we really need to celebrate is when this is OVER and our men and women are HOME!

Santa Monica Beach, CA. January 2011

What day is it?

Things have been running pretty hectic here lately. I've been busy with business, the kids, attempting to keep up with the house. David has been working lots of hours, all of the above! No complaining though, we've been blessed beyond words. I'm thankful that we are able and working. 

I am losing track of days though. They're turning to a blur! Seems like I haven't seen my babies in days, and I'm right here with them. It's definitely time for a pj's, movie and lazy day!  

We did go to the zoo in Fresno last week with my dad, mom, nieces and nephew. David didn't get to go because he had to work. It sure was nice to get away and spend the day with family. My dad, mom, nieces and nephew drove home and my kids and I went to one of my favorite places for dinner. When I was little, my Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Larry would come to Bakersfield, pick me up for the weekend and spoil the crap out of me. Some of my favorite things during those weekend trips were the Fresno Zoo, The Old Spaghetti Factory, and swimming for countless hours in their pool.

I don't know why we don't have The Old Spaghetti Factory here, but we sure need one. Their spumoni ice cream is the best. Imitators have nothing in comparison! 

Anyhow! I'm rambling because I'm sleepy! Here are some quick photos from the Zoo :)

This little girl idolizes her rockstar Grandpa<3

All the kids fed the giraffes! They have crazzzy long tongues!

I call him, El Mustache bird. Two of these birds flew and landed about arms length in front of me. Scared the crap out of me, then mom yelled "Take a picture!"

Never...

wake a sleeping baby.

For about a month, I think just after we came back from Disneyland, Abigail broke out with this insane new sleeping schedule. Wake up at noon, go to sleep at 8pm, wake up at midnight, go to sleep at 5am. I called it midnight madness. I'm hoping with all of my hoping abilities, that's she's finally back to a normal schedule. 

I.was.exhausted. 

And now I'm stuck with a funky sleep schedule! She's doing the normal 9pm bed time, 9am wake up (no naps, I'm scared of naps right now!) so that's amazing! The night before last she fell asleep in my bed. Even though she's no longer a baby, I still didn't want to wake her and move her to her bed in fear that she would wake up and the midnight madness would start all over again!

Maybe it was a random growth spurt. My kids seem to lose their appetite and sleep weird schedules when they're growing. It could very well explain her going from a 3T in the winter, to having to buy her 5T's for Spring/Summer! 

Speaking of spring, we're actually having a real spring this year! Usually by mid March or April, it's full on hot, 90+. It's been absolutely beautiful here lately. My dream weather! Which means lots of outdoor playtime for the kids to wiggle out all of their pent up winter energy. 

•••

Today I thought I attempt to get some photos of our big dog, Cee Cee. I'm always chasing the cats to get their big round eyes, love them<3 But I'm never able to keep up with the mutts to get something good. Or... I just suck at pet photography! Haha!

Lesson for today? Don't hold the dog treat over the camera. Dogs are not afraid to eat cameras. Almost had a big hairy wet dog nose smear my lens *panic*!

My Superhero

One of the precious joys of being a mom is letting your little ones be who they want to be. Even if it means sleeping in their last years Halloween costume!

4 years on the making! Family Photos!

We've needed to do this for a LONG time! I have no idea why we took so long, but I'm so happy with the results! Big thanks to Alicja Burnette Photography for putting up with us!

Our trip to Disneyland! {Picture overload!}

Disneyland was something David I had planned for years! We waited and waited until we felt the kids were old enough to not be completely exhausted by the place, and truly enjoy it's magical experience. So, for Bradley's 5th birthday, we went. March is a very busy month for us every year. It's starts with David's birthday, then it's mine, and the day after mine is Bradley's! We also celebrate our wedding anniversary on the 17th and a few other family member's birthdays as well. It's ALWAYS crazy this month! 

So, after our 4 hour drive to Anaheim, the kids were restless and we were all very hungry. We checked into our hotel room, unloaded our bags, put everything away, and left for dinner. After dinner (at yummy California Pizza kitchen, mmm) we stopped at The Cheesecake Factory for my favorite vanilla bean cheesecake. We all got our own since everyone was celebrating a birthday (David, me, Bradley, and my mom, who's birthday is tomorrow!) and headed back to the room. I'm pretty sure that cheesecake is made of nothing but the finest, sweetest sugar because after bath and settling down, this is what happened to the kids:

12:05a.m.

As you can see, they were VERY much full of energy.

Just so you know how funny this picture is, we booked a family room. Two queen beds, for the adults, and bunk beds for the kids. The bunk beds went unused and the babies slept with Gran Gran :)

We planned to get up at 7am, make breakfast, and be on our way to Disneyland.

.......

We woke up at 9am.

It's OK though, we needed the sleep after that first night! On the bus to Disneyland!

We're HERE!

Moco? Or no moco?

Happy St.Patrick's Day! Today is mine and David's fourth wedding anniversary. We didn't have anything special planned and usually don't since everyone is usually celebrating the holiday and we don't want to have to battle the crowds. Instead we planned to stay home, make dinner, the usual thing. 

Except today must have been a little too boring for Abigail. At almost 4pm, she came to me and said, "Mom, I moco in my nose." Moco is the Spanish word for booger in case you didn't know ;) 

I got tissue, and told her to blow. Abigal-  "It no working!"

I looked inside her little nose, and found something that looked glittery and pink. Oh great... a Barbie shoe.

David came home and we headed out to children's urgent care. Four hours later... there was nothing in her nose. If there was, it's gone. What I saw when looking into her nose, was an inflamed spot that she's either been picking, or she did have something in her nose that irritated it. But now, it's gone. 

I pretty much felt like an idiot walking out of the urgent care. Oh well. After Abigail and her $30,000 penny a year and a half ago, it's better safe than sorry. Thank goodness it wasn't anything more!

Waiting to be called back.

Tomorrow we have a big day. I'm shooting my first official wedding with David by my side on Saturday. I'm super excited and nervous. Really hoping that the rain that's scheduled for the day will miraculously disappear!  

I don't think I've laughed and cried so hard at the same time....ever!

Sometimes, when it's really quiet and I get the chance to read without interruptions, I like to read other blogs. Mostly about photography, surrogacy, cooking. Sometimes a mix of all the above!

I followed a link to one that I haven't seen before. But the name of who it belonged to automatically called me in. Gary Fong. If you've never heard the name, he's a very successful photographer, writer and photography accessory creator. I have one of his diffusers for my camera around here somewhere...

{Gary Fong}

{Gary Fong Store}

Anyhow, the blog I was reading tonight was the story and updates of Melissa and Gary's journey through infertility. It's moving. They both have amazing personalities and it shines through, but what I watched tonight.... ugh.... I had to share. My heart is overjoyed with happiness for them (and I don't even know them! Haha!). I don't know any of the heartaches and disappointments that come with struggling with infertility. I can only imagine what it is like. It's something that I wish deserving families didn't have to struggle with everyday. 

It's when those struggles turn into something absolutely amazing afterwards. In the end, it's worth all the bad times, the good, the tears, the joys, the doctor visits, the failed attempts of pregnancy. Everything. This confirms it :) Click on the link below and watch the video on their blog:

{Melissa has a surprise for Gary...}

P.S. He's very expressive with his emotions, you may want to turn your volume down ;)

Photos of the kids

I very rarely get good photos of my own monster children, so I'm super excited about this! Maybe someday they'll get use to me being their personal paparazzi. These were taken over a month ago, but I'm just now getting the chance to post them. I love the little brats!

Ring around the rosies...

Have you ever played Ring around the rosies... with peacocks?! Yeah, me either. But Abigail has. I almost fell over laughing! It was definitely fun to watch :)

One of these days I'll get a good, smiling photo of both of them! Until then, I'll have to treasure their goofy, smudged face, messy hair photos.

The Girls

If you've ever been to Hart Park in Bakersfield, you know that peacocks are in plenty. There's TONS of them, and if you feel them, it's like they come out of the trees, from the river, behind the buildings... everywhere. We love to feed them, they're less aggressive than the killer "durkeys" (I'll take a picture of one of those someday. Ugly little things, look like they're a good mix between a duck and a turkey, hence the "durkey").

The Boys

I absolutely love these birds! So much color, sooooo many feathers!

I thought this guy was going to eat me, see his face in the first one? He lost interest I guess :) Good thing too, I really don't want to be eaten by a peacock!

I understand what you're saying, but your attitude SUCKS!

     It goes without question that my passion and love in life is photography. I love learning all there is to know, I love the sound of the click of the shutter, adjusting the exposure, fine tuning the ISO and all the many settings. It all makes my mind go crazy and my heart beat faster! I'm obviously not the only person who gets this kind of rush from capturing a photo. You're probably well aware of the deep saturation of photographers all around you!

     There's just one thing that gets to me. Everyone loves holding on to memories. One of the easiest ways to do so is to take a picture or a video. So naturally people own a camera. I can't think of a single person who doesn't have some sort of camera! A big complaint I see from several of the photographers I talk with is, "They asked 'Your pictures are so great, what kind of camera do you own?!' Haha!". These photographers get upset because they feel the person suspects that the camera is doing all the work and not the person behind it. A common response I see is "They don't ask the baker what kind of oven she uses when they taste her amazing goodies! They want to know the recipe!" Well no, but why can't we be honest with people? Not everyone is a Pro. Not everyone knows that a camera can be adjusted to do exactly what you tell it too. Not everyone knows that it take a lot of work and learning to get to the point of taking fantastic photographs.

     So really? Why can't we just be honest? Instead of being so cocky and expecting everyone to praise you, instead of your awesome camera (lets face it, if it wasn't awesome, you wouldn't be in the position of taking those fantastic photos!), just be honest. Did you know a kind nudge with a little knowledge is SO much more powerful than a slap across the face and a cold shoulder?!

     I don't know where I would be without the many wonderful people who helped guide me in the right direction. Who inspired me to find my style and fall more in love with photography. Each and every person who took the time to educate me instead of turning away from me, made a HUGE impact in where I am today. I wish I could sit down and thank each and everyone of them for all that they've done for me. We all start somewhere, and that somewhere I'm sure we all took less than awesome photographs. Ugh, I can't believe my eyes when I look through some of the things I took a WEEK ago!

     That's pretty much all I wanted to say. It's so discouraging to see so many very talented photographers with with noses turned up. It's a shame that their attitudes hinder their talents. Stop to take a look around people, be thankful for where you are, and pull your head out of your butts. It's not as if the person is out to offend you by asking. They ask because they want to capture amazing photos as well! Maybe a little bit of guidance from you could help them in finding a camera that would work for them. Possibly moving in the same direction as you (who knows! maybe they idolize your work!) or possibly saving them $100's when they learn that they don't want to learn the technique!

    Since I haven't been on this in a good long time, it's time to share some photos. This is why I love photography. My bug loves to cook. Anytime I ask him if he wants to help in the kitchen, he jumps at the opportunity. The food doesn't always turn out right, but I couldn't care less. The fact that I get to hold on to these moments and cherish his passion for cooking, makes it perfect it it's own way. I couldn't ask for a better kitchen helper!

     If we don't take the time to remember where we come from, we get lost in where we're going...

A Dream {Surrogacy Poem}

I found this poem while reading on a surrogacy forum and I thought I would share. It's beautiful and says exactly what I feel about this entire journey, made me teary eyed! 


A Dream
Our friendship started differently,
Than most friendships I've had.
We had to search each other out,
because of something sad.

A precious child to fill your hearts,
Is what you're longing for.
Infertility has made it hard,
to open up that door.

And so a search began for you,
to find a helping heart.
So similar to my own search,
not knowing where to start.

For me, the search is special,
it requires such great care.
A couple to have a child...
the fruit my search must bare.

Now we've found each other,
so much more real it seems.
Through faith and hope and honesty,
we're moving toward your dream.

But the dream we have,
it is the same, a dream that's filled with firsts.
First smiles, first laughs, first steps, first words.
All starting with a birth.

Often times I find myself wondering what it's like,
to have to trust a stranger with such a precious life.
And though I can't imagine,all that you've been through,
I hope you know I'll do my best to bring a child to you.

Surrogacy is something not everyone can do.
But I've been so blessed in my life,
I'm drawn to helping you.
Some people call us Angels, us surro-moms to be.
But I don't feel angelic, I just feel like me.

Our journey is just starting,
and no one knows the end.
I pray it brings to you a child,
and brings to me a friend.

By Lain


I've mentioned how I've always wanted to be a surrogate mother many times. It's a dream I wasn't sure I would be able to fulfill. Mostly something I would have burning in the back of my mind but never able to accomplish. Now, I don't know why I thought it that way. The opportunity has always been open to me, but I think it was just timing. I'm where I want to be in my life, goals I've wanted to accomplish, experiences I wanted to have. I've done almost everything I've wanted, with many experiences that will still present themselves to me. Now was just perfect timing. 


Although it is still just the beginning, I have learned so much from this experience. One being that I have such an amazing support group. You all lift me up and carry me through it all, without judgement, without malice. Nothing but support and pure love. Thank you<3 For both understanding and for encouragement. 


I've also learned that I've gained wonderful friends in this! I could not ask for a more amazing couple to be experiencing this entire journey with! It's kind of funny how it all works out, but it is so much more than I imagined. 


Being a surrogate mother isn't just carrying a baby for another couple. It's helping them create a new life, someone who will love them unconditionally, and they will love just the same in return. It's knowing that sometimes our lives have a plan, and we may not fully understand it at the time. But there is a reason for everything. 


As it gets closer and closer to starting the medications and getting prepared for the transfer, I think I get more and more excited! I can honestly say that any little bit of nervousness I've had about any of it, is pretty much gone. If it is in the "plan" of our lives, another beautiful family is going to grow by one (or two!) in just a few short months! I know that they're going to be great parents and that their little baby will have more love than anyone can imagine! 


We have an exciting couple of weeks (and then months!) ahead of us!


...and since it's not fun to blog without a photo! Miss. Abigail sometime last week when we were both feeling sick in the midnight hours.

the Joy of LOVE | Day 8

{the Joy of LOVE} | Day 8: Gift from the heart

This one was easy. I've been given many things, but the ones that I cherish the most are the ones that were well thought of and have sentimental meaning.

In January of 2006, my Grandma Dottie passed away. She was one of the most classy, elegant, most amazing women I have ever known. I'm proud to say that I am her Granddaughter <3 I miss her like crazy. In her last days, I was pregnant with Bradley, my first child. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant when she needed medical care and when I would visit her, no matter how out of it she may have seemed, she ALWAYS asked how the baby was doing. She knew she wasn't going to be around much longer, but she wanted and fought so hard to meet him before she passed. Unfortunately, I attended her viewing and celebration of life, still pregnant. 2 months before Bradley was born, she passed away. It was hard, but I know now that she's not hurting and she's watching over both of my babies with my Grandpa Larry, and Uncle Larry.

This Angel statue was given to me from my Dad and Mom after my Grandma passed away. We both collected angels and even though this is probably a garden fairy, it's my angel! It means a lot to me because it is one of a few physical items I have to hold on to, to remember what an amazing woman she was. Sadly, this angel has had a hard life in my house! She's had to have re-constructive surgery about 3 times. It's been knocked over by the little ones on several occasions and her head has fallen off more times than I can count! For this reason, she stays put away in a safe spot until the kids are old enough to not knock everything in this house over, haha! That may be another 20 years from now!!

Grandma Dottie

the Joy of LOVE | Day 7

{the Joy of LOVE} | Day 7: Generations

I had a little trouble with this one. I wanted to be creative, or take a picture with one of their grandparents. It just didn't happen and was already behind with this!

So, I found a photo of my Grandma Dottie, Uncles Larry and Gary, and my Mom & Dad. It's one of my favorite photos from before I was born. I showed it to Bradley and he said "Who the heck are these people?!" Definitely something that he would say! So we played the point them out and say who they are game.

the Joy of LOVE | Day 6

{the Joy of LOVE} | Day 6: WHO they love<3

I cheated for this one, I used an image from a few days ago. I've been slacking since our weekend was CRAZY busy, but it's done none the less!

As much as they probably hate to admit it, Bradley and Abigail love each other<3 When one is gone without the other, they're asking about each other. When one wakes up first, they're patiently waiting for the other to wake up... and if one is going to the bathroom, the other is knocking on the door!

I love those two more than they know, all the sweet moments of loving, the fighting 5 minutes later, to jumping off the dresser onto their beds... They make me crazy in love.

the Joy of LOVE | Day 5

{the Joy of LOVE} Day 5: Love to Hate

Two words: Potty Training.

She does so good, but tonight started with this. Bedtime, bed sheets in the washer.

the Joy of LOVE | Day 4

{the Joy of LOVE | Day 4: What they wear.

I thought over and over about what I wanted to do with today's challenge, and nothing really worked out right. So, I told the kids it was DRESS UP DAY! "Go to your rooms and pick out what you want to wear today and I'll help you get dressed." My exact words... Bradley ran out with jean, a camo button up, and his Batman cape. He wanted to be Army Batman today! What else would Abigail want to be? No one would ever guess she would want to be a Princess... not that girl. She couldn't reach her dress, but she had a specific one picked out. She hadn't worn it yet. Mostly because we haven't had anywhere to wear it, and it's off white! I have the messiest girl ever. Looking at that dress I could think of 1001 ways she could get it dirty. But, I said what I said, and I had to stick to it. 

Kids dressed and out the door, we had a little adventure photo shoot today. Went to a downtown park and had a little fun!

These are my two (although I'm sure it's only suppose to be one!) photos for day 4.

I have a busy weekend ahead of me, but I'll add some from the rest from today soon<3

Goody Two Shoes Photography Giveaway

In celebration of her 3rd year in business, Goody Two Shoes is giving away some really amazing prizes on her blog! Go check it out: GTSP Giveaway! Included are: $50 to My4Hens Store, Lifetime Membership to Clickinmoms, Pamela Toppings Actions and Camera LOVE necklace, and SO much more! Seriously, go check it out, and enter for your chance to win ;)

{the Joy of LOVE} | Day 3

{the Joy of LOVE} | Day 3: then and now

Top photo is of Abigail sleeping on her daddy when she was just a few months old. I honestly can't remember exactly how old she was :( I should have kept better track of dates because I so miss ALL of this! My little bitty girl is growing up! Bottom photo is of her just after she fell asleep. 2.5 years old. Seems like she was just born and I was cradling her little body across my chest. I love that sweet baby girl<3

and now that I look closer, I realize the onesie she is wearing in the first photo says "Little Sister", Bradley had a matching blue shirt that said "Big Brother". The photo on the bottom, also says "Little Sister". Now that one happened by coincidence! How neat!

the Joy of LOVE | Day 1 & 2

Click the logo above to join in on the fun!

For the month of February, I'll be participating in something fun! You can join too, it's free, encourages you to step outside of your comfort zone and do something fun with photography!

Since I started a few days late, I had to play catch up.

{Day 1} What the people we love, "do".

Bradley LOVES to play on my iPad. That boy knows his way around that thing better than I do! He loves to draw pictures and write words, mostly "Toy" and "Bra" (Shush it! It's the first 3 letters of his name, not an actual Bra! Haha!"

{Day 2} How they look
My handsome hubby, David. He's such a good sport. I tell him, you need to wash your face and get out of your work clothes. I need to take a picture of you. What did he say? "Ok, do you just want me to take a shower, or what?" No whining, no bickering. Ah.... I love him<3

And if anyone knows David, you know he's the biggest dork ever. That's why I love him! If he were serious, I would drown in sadness. He always makes me smile.

Self Portrait

     Oh my goodness... Today I took on the task of taking a "funny or different" self portrait to be entered in a contest for a photography class on Natural light. I would REALLY love to win, but aside from that, I learned a LOT today!

     1. Self portraits, are super difficult. I don't know why I thought it would be easy, and that my little to no light in my house would work. Maybe I'm more naive than I thought I was!

     2. I am a very creative person.... until it comes to photography. I can crochet, sew, and pretend I know how to paint. Setting up a creative photo? Not so much! It's like I go brain dead when it comes to being different in front of the camera. I'm going to have to work on that ;)

Anyhow, here is what I came up with. Thank you David for helping me set everything up<3

Photo entered into contest

And then some "normal" self portraits:

Here's to hoping I got a shot at this! 

Doing something different

     I just redid and updated this entire blog, whew! That was a chore! But now that that's done, I decided that I want to do something fun and different. I'm always out taking photos of my clients, and very rarely taking pictures of my own family and children. Which is, the reason why I fell in love with photography in the first place. So I could capture the sweet moments of our family through all the years, watching as we all develop and get older.

     So I'm setting a goal. It's a small one for now, but I want to get myself out 'there' and make an attempt to capture something that shows who we are at least once a week. Sometimes I get so busy and caught up that I forget that I need to do something out of our normal routine. I'm probably going to fail sometimes, but I'll be the one to kick myself in the butt for that!

     I have a "Favorite Photo of the Week" up there ^^^. Right now it's of my date night with my husband! LOVE it! We never take pictures of ourselves anymore. We had SO much fun too. Gran Gran watched the kids for us, and we went to a comedy show to see Jeff Dunham. We were both laughing so hard we could barely eat at dinner! It was really nice to be able to hold a conversation without our children interrupting with all the things they like to talk about; transformers, "no want it eat", tantrums, etc.

     My goal now, is to get a self portrait! I'm always BEHIND the camera, but very rarely in front of it! Clickin' Moms, my ever so loved photography forum, is having a contest. Winner gets a seat in one of their amazing classes. You have to post a new, and interesting or funny self portrait. By tomorrow night! EEE! Fingers crossed, and kids willing, I'll get this done. Here's to hoping I get it done and win!

New update! Things are happening fast!

It's time to update! Last weekend, we met our IP's for the first time. They came to CA just for a visit. It was perfect. They're everything I had imagined, and SO much like us. My family got to meet them, my kids looove them. We went to Pink's hot dog stand, which was super yummy. Then spent the rest of the day at Santa Monica and near by beaches. It gave us the chance to really see who they are. *C and I talked about how excited we are for the pregnancy and what it's going to be like for her to be a mom! I'm beyond excited for them. This venture is going so perfectly. What a blessing!

So, for the good stuff! We had a little set back last month. Some tests came back not so good on their end, and we were all worried that it would postpone things more than we hoped. So that called for more testing just to make sure. Well.... *G and *C just called with great news! All tests came back great! The CA dr. called and gave the 100% green light! Everything is in place we're about to get started! AHHH!

They're coming back to CA next month, probably closer to the end of the month, to do the deposits of sperm specimen. Then after that, we wait for my next ovulation. Which, from what my calendar is showing, is the week of my birthday! March is just around the corner! I can't believe it! I'm going to ask for everyone's prayers and good thoughts. Usually it takes 2-3 transfers to get a positive pregnancy. I'll be taking Clomid before the transfer to up the chances. Meaning chances for a positive will be greater, and chances for twins will be too! It would be so perfect if the transfer takes the first time, so keep us in your prayers! We all would love to see them be new parents by the end of this year<3

I have pictures from the meeting, but I'm not sure I want to share them on here. I prefer to keep things private for them. We've both been told by our families and friends that we look like we could be sisters. So that's really fun!

Ahhh! The excitement is elevating! This is happening so fast, but still feels like it's going by so slowly!!! I can't wait for it all to start.

Craving Cupcakes

I have been craving cupcakes like a mad lady! Strawberry with french vanilla whipped topping to be exact. I'm no betty crocker, so I just chalked it up to a craving I wouldn't get to indulge in. 

It got the best of me tonight! I have no idea how to make french vanilla whipped topping stuff, but I know how to open a box an follow directions :) Then I decided to do something I've never done, and I photographed it all. Haha! That was fun, goofy, but fun. 

And it was tasty!