Welcome to the Family

Who said it best once we announced the arrival of Matt Damon?  Our friend Sherry on Facebook: "You're having twins in a few months.  Why not get a puppy too??"

We had an adventurous weekend.  On Friday we flew out to Washing D.C. where we (romantically) walked over 4 miles around the national mall and surrounding monuments followed by a lovely dinner.  On Saturday we drove approximately an hour outside of town to go pick up our son, Matt Damon.  He's the sweetest little boy.  We kept him awake until we boarded the plane.  He slept most of the flight, but unfortunately he had terrible gas.  He was tooting the entire flight.  Luckily there's plentiful air movement on flights therefore nothing lingered long.

However, when we arrived home (approximately one hour after we landed in Dallas) Damon created an enormous pile in our backyard.  I was shocked at the amount that he created.  If he had performed that act in flight it would have taken down the entire plane.  I feel very lucky our flight was on time and on schedule!

Damon is such a floppy, big eared little boy.

My first bulldog, Martha Fauker, was fully grown around 5 years old when she arrived in our family.  After Martha's passing, a 5 month old Sarah Dooley arrived in our family.  As such, this is the first time I've had a 10 week old puppy.  He's all puppy.

Trigger, who's the sweetest dog within his routine, doesn't like him at all.  However, Trigger didn't like Dooley for the first six months - Trigger's scared, which is why he growls at Damon.  We have to keep them separated unless they are strictly supervised.

Dooley only likes Damon when she's fully rested.  If she's tired, which is often now that Damon has to get up every three hours to pee at night, she doesn't enjoy his puppy-ness.  Why can't we all be happy like a puppy?

Damon is adding lots of joy to our household.  I'm certain Trigger (in six months) and Dooley (in less than six months) will be happy at the new addition to our family.  I really am getting up every three hours to take Damon out (he uses the restroom every time) at night.  Trigger stays in his bed.  Dooley suffers from FOMO (fear of missing out) and so such accompanies us to the backyard.

My goal is to get Damon trained up before the next wave of additions, the twins, arrive in March/April.

Double Occupancy

We've confirmed our surrogate, Morgan, is carrying our twins in her divine belly.  Once we learned the news it was a joyous moment in the sonogram/ultrasound room at Dr. Kaufmann's offices on Friday afternoon.  We were all cheering.  My mother was crying with happiness, and my father was asking if he was the only person that didn't know what he was looking at on the screen?  I hope my sons get my father's sense of timing with humor.

It was actually exactly how Adam (my friend and father of twins) explained it to me; Adam informed me the discovery of twins in a womb happens immediately.  He remembers being surprised at how fast it all happened.  For us, as soon as Dr. Kaufmann began the procedure I saw a flash of two dark spots on the screen and I heard a gasp from Morgan.  She gasped because she saw twins! While Morgan has had three pregnancies previously, she has never carried twins.

My brother gave us twin figurines.  My husband's mother gave us twin stuffed animals. Morgan gave us twin blankets.  Friday night I couldn't sleep because I started to think of the implications of twins.  Two of everything for the rest of our life?!  Two babies in diapers. Two teenagers. Two undergraduate degrees.  Two graduate degrees.  I guess I won't retire?  Of course we'll also get twice the love...retirement is overrated, I'm certain.

Twin Photo

Via my Instagram

Forty Sixty Dinner Party

This month my parents will have been married for forty years and my mother will have been alive for sixty years.  To celebrate this milestone (achievement) my parents engaged a private chef to cook for us all on Saturday evening at our house.

It was a night of tiny crab cakes, pulled pork on bite sized cheddar biscuits, green salad, scallops, fillets, and a dessert trio.  It was an elegant, interesting evening.

My parents and our nieces spent the weekend with us while my brother, uncle, and grandfather crashed for one night.  It was lovely to have a house full of some of the crazy people I love.

It's a nice reminder that what matters most in life are the relationships you have with the people you love.  Nothing else really matters.

Dinner Party

Via my Instagram

Six Weeks Two Days

Today we're at six weeks and two days.  Morgan, our gestational surrogate, is reporting that she's "sea sick" most of the day, tired in the afternoons, and craving steaks and pickles.  I am sorry Morgan is feeling nauseated, since I don't want her to experience discomfort; however, the changes in her body are keeping the pregnancy real.  As in, this is really happening!  It's reassuring to hear stories of her pregnancy woes, since it means our boy(s) are growing.

On Friday, the day before seven weeks, we will have our first sonogram to determine if one or both of the embryos are growing inside her sacred womb.  I'm both excited and nervous.

I'm nervous enough that I have to ask myself: Is it possible that something physically changing in me too?  Ever since our doctor transferred two embryos into Morgan I've become hyperaware of stories of miscarriages, stillbirths, and wombs going empty.   I've become my late grandmother Peaches: worry, worry, worry!  On Saturday night I kept having a dream that our doctor couldn't find anything in Morgan's womb.  It was a ridiculous dream.

I was speaking to my father this weekend about my newly discovered craziness.

Me: I'm sure I'll stop worrying once we hit 20 weeks, right?  No wait...I'm sure I'll stop worrying once they arrive, right?

My father:  No, you'll worry about them the rest of your life.

Me: That's what everyone keeps telling me!

I want to know...

...is it wrong on Wednesday nights when I'm at home alone (my husband travels for business) or when I'm at a hotel alone (sometimes I travel for business) I like to watch QVC's In the Kitchen with David?  I work.  David keeps me company.

Ashley Longshore

I'm pretty sure we all need an Ashley Longshore on our walls.  Unfortunately art requires cash, and I am also pretty sure I will never have cash again after making these baby(ies).  These future child(ren) will expect to be fed, clothed, and educated.  My husband's mother recently informed my husband that, ahem, children are expensive raise, and then she asked if we were still saving money!  (Love it!)

During the teenage years when our kids act out, I'm going to yell things like: "I could have purchased an Ashley Longshore!"

QOTD

"Judge Orlando Garcia gave Texas an Aug. 24 deadline to recognize same-sex marriages on death and birth certificates."

-via KUT.org

Baby Love

After confirmation of our pregnancy Cousin Sarah and her family sent us our first baby gift.  Hooray for milestones! In the card Cousin Sarah proclaimed she loves us both to pieces and she can't wait to love and adore our precious children.  What a lovely thought!  It's going to be fun to raise our children within our circle of family and friends.  Hopefully, Cousin Sarah's crew can help make our children more worldly since Cousin Sarah's crew split their time between Texas and Eastern Europe.

Another token of wisdom Cousin Sarah, mother of three, said to us: relax while you can!  Now that type of advice concerns me a little bit, because I'm starting to see a trend.  This is the most common type of advice parents give us once they learn we're expecting.  For example, our friend Adam, father of two, said we should enjoy sleeping for the next 8 months.  My husband's sister, mother of two, told us to enjoy our freedom while it last.

Apparently kids wreck your relaxing, sleeping, and freeing (?) schedule!  

I'm assured the journey of fatherhood and the havoc to my schedule is worthwhile by my BFF Del, father of two,  because he told us there is a type of love that only parents can experience/understand.   He said childless individuals will never understand the powerful type of love mothers and fathers have for their children.  He is joyful that my husband and I will understand that type of love in 2016!

Fatima Ronquillo New Show

For those of you with disposable income,  one of the my favorite artists (she's a living master) Fatima Ronquillo recently posted her newest masterpieces from her current solo show at the Meyers East Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I love these paintings!

Four Weeks

It's official.  We're 4 weeks and one day pregnant as of today.  My husband ended up with two boys and two girls, and I ended up with four boys and one girl; we transferred one of my husband's boys and one of my boys on Friday, July 24.  We are hoping for twins, but we won't know how many boys are in Morgan's belly until the end of August!

Our surrogate, Morgan, was texting us updates once we joyously found out we are officially (blood test verified; beta of 134) pregnant...

Me: I'm still a little scared to get too excited.  Is that normal?  I'm excited, but it's still so early.  Anything can happen.

Morgan: That sounds 100% normal.  Baby/babies and I will keep doing everything we need to do and other than that the rest isn't up to us.  Welcome to parenthood where worrying is your job.

Wait.  No one told me I would worry the rest of my life about my children.  Do you think our parents still worry about us?  Parenthood, here we come...