All Star 5K and Fan Fest and Home Run Derby 2010!

Dan and I are both baseball fans so we were really excited that the MLB All-Star game was being hosted by the Anaheim Angels this year.  We participated in three events this year thanks to the generosity of friends and family who are season ticket holders.  (Thanks Joe & Craig!)

Our first event was the All Star Fan Fest at the Anaheim Convention Center.  It was filled with games, displays, and memorabilia.  We saw Babe Ruth's jersey, the world series trophy, and old baseball stars like Chuck Finley, Rollie Fingers, and Chili Davis.  (We missed seeing Tim Salmon, boo!)  After a fun time at Fan Fest we went to Fire and Ice at the Anaheim Garden Walk and had a blast eating and visiting!

Our next event was the All-Star 5k where we got to run through Angel Stadium.

 Lastly, we were able to attend the Home Run Derby.  Dan went with my brothers and I went with our neighbors and friends.  The boys all sat in the outfield and caught 5 home run derby balls!

Miracle of Miracles: Our adoption is FINAL!!!!

Our adoption is FINAL!!!!  Well I got word from our Snowflakes coordinator today that the donor family has signed the adoption contract and it is in the mail on its way to sunny Southern California!  When I saw the coordinator's email in my inbox I half expected it to be disappointing news again, but it is not!!  Good-bye pessimism, hello optimism!  I am turning a new leaf and to celebrate I bought my first maternity clothing item today on www.babysteals.com  I bought the Nina shirt in white.  Do you like?  Lilac Clothing specializes in maternity clothing that you can wear at any stage of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and post-pregnancy.  Let's hope I get to wear it past the "pre-pregnancy" stage.  =)

Also, I have to brag. . . Dan and his co-worker Chris won silver medals in tennis doubles at the police and fire olympics in Reno, NV today!  Congrats to my man!

Signing of the Contract - Take Two!

Today we signed our EA contract at AAA.  It felt good to be done with everything on our side of things.  This is as far as we got with our last failed match so we will be REALLY excited when we get word that the donor family has signed the contract as well.  The notary thought I was a little odd that we were taking pictures and I just explained to her that this was like our "You're pregnant!" moment and we wanted to remember this day.  She replied, "Oh, that wasn't how I felt when I found out I was pregnant."  (said in a voice with a tinge of disgust)  I just said "Oh" and thought in my head how sad for this lady that she (at one time) saw her baby as a burden rather than a blessing.  I realized what a gift of awareness and appreciation God has given to Dan and I through our deprivation.  I can't wait to be pregnant and make Dan a dad.  He will be such a great dad.  Tonight I just want to fast forward to October and let those babies grow!

Summertime Fun! - Camping on the porch

This week I got to babysit for a friend and we made the most of a nice summer evening by roasting hot dogs and making s'mores on the fire followed by a reading of Go, Dog, Go!, The Rescuers, and The Giving Tree.  

It was so much fun that Dan and I did it again the next night!

Two Weeks of Silence - EVEN MORE UPDATES

It has been two weeks since we have heard from Snowflakes and I am getting a little nervous again.  There could be many reasons why we haven't heard from our coordinator in these last two weeks:  maybe our donor family is on vacation and we are waiting on them to approve part of the contract, maybe the coordinator is extra busy these weeks and with a holiday hasn't gotten to sending us our final contract yet, maybe the email that holds our contract got lost in cyberspace!  Who knows. . .well our coordinator knows. . . and I don't want to be a thorn in her side and call her everyday.  With our last experience it is hard not to imagine the worst of the reasons. . . the donor family has changed their mind or my personal favorite, the donor family just doesn't want to deal with this right now (yes should read that with a pinch of sarcasm).  I am praying for an email today so that I don't have to play the what if game in my head anymore.

I'll let you know if I hear anything. . .

 UPDATE JULY 13th

Okay. . . thanks for the advice and encouraging words!  I email our coordinator yesterday and got an email back today.  She hasn't heard from our donor family since June 30th and doesn't know why.  She left them a voicemail this afternoon and hopefully we will know more later this week.  


 UPDATE JULY 14th
Our coordinator emailed again today to tell us that she heard from the donor family.  They want to change our adoption to a completely closed adoption.  We agreed although I was a little sad.  I am still glad that our children will have the choice to know their genetic mom (the egg donor) as she has agreed to meet any future children if they wish it.  I expect the final contract to arrive in my email box any time now.  


 UPDATE JULY 17th
I was surprised to find an email from our coordinator tonight.  She just wanted to let us know that our contract would be ready for signing on Tuesday evening!  Once we sign it with a notary and our donor family does the same the embryos are legally our children!   So by this time next week Dan and I could finally be parents!  Let's pray that all goes smoothly and quickly!

UPDATE JULY 21st
The contract did not come last night (Tuesday night) like it was supposed to.  I'll be checking my inbox every five seconds today and then drive to Riverside to Dan's work to have it notarized on his break and pop it in the mail.  That is if it comes today. . .

. . . and about 5 minutes after I posted today's update THE CONTRACT ARRIVED!!!  Although it had a big mistake in it.  Snowflakes' standard EA contract allows the donor family to terminate the contract after one year and take back any frozen embryos that have not been used.  We asked the donor family to extend that period of time to FIVE years before they can terminate our contract which they agreed to but the coordinator forgot to make the changes in the contract.  She had the changes made and emailed to me in 10 minutes so we will still have our contract notarized today!  Yea!

Meet our new tenant! - Needs a permanent home!

This week we got to meet this sweet dog who needs a new home. The neighborhood kids found her and she was playing with them climbing the tot lot and sliding down the slide. So funny! We were unable to find her owners and because she is part pit bull we don't want to leave her at the SPCA where pit bulls are often put down. This dog is a girl and about 5-6 months old and not yet altered or microchiped. She is in good health and we just gave her a bath and a dose of Advantage.

She has been living with us and our dog the past week and so far we have learned that: she loves and plays well with other dogs, she does not live well with cats (she chases them), she has a fun loving personality and has a sweet disposition.  She likes people and kids although she would be better with older kids because she is still a puppy and has much energy.  She is not yet house trained although I've been told that can take about two weeks of crating to remedy.  She would be an excellent watch dog as she does have a tendency to bark but only when given cause (like another dog goes by). We put the citronella barking collar on her to begin to train her and it is working very, very well. She loves her pool time and she is getting the hang of fetch with the ball. She likes to cuddle and has a few bad habits like licking and jumping up on your legs when she gets excited. These habits are normal for a young untrained puppy. She knows how to respond to "sit", she walks well on a leash, and has shown signs that she is very trainable.

If you or someone you know (in Southern California) would like to adopt this sweet dog please message me. We would love to place her soon!

Mom Time

On Monday Mom and I had a great day at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino.  Here you can see the Japanese garden which is one of the most beautiful of the gardens.  We also had tea with all of the fixings at the Rose Garden Tea Room which was so yummy!  My favorite tea sandwich on the menu was cream cheese, carrot, and candied ginger on cinnamon raisin bread.  It was a great time to leisurely walk the grounds, see amazing works of art and historical documents and see the early 20th century home of Mr. and Mrs. Huntington.  The rose garden was one of our favorite spots and we couldn't help but smell dozens of roses.  It was great!