Exciting times

It is so amazing how fast we are moving along with the surrogate process.  We are pretty close to getting a contract in place and getting our surrogate checked out by the Reproductive Endocrinologist.  We are working with a GREAT IVF Clinic.  Their office staff is SUPER nice and to me that is extremely important.  I have dealt with so many rude people at Doctor office's in the past and don't want that to be the case in such an exciting process.  In the mean time of getting all the details of the contract for us and the Surrogate signed, I am doing research on OBGYN's and Hospitals as we are paying cash.  It is INSANE the mark up that I have found when using insurance versus cash.  Cash is a WAY better option, so that is a positive thing in such an UBER expensive process. 

It is pretty funny that people are asking us if we have Baby names picked out yet since we don't even have a pregnancy.  But, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a planner and of course have Baby names picked out, but I am not sharing them with anyone.  I am barely telling Jason because I know he will let it slip and I don't want anyone stealing my Baby names.  Who would have ever thought you had to worry about these types of thing??  I will, however share the initials of a possible Baby Boy, RRR.  No, RRR is not a typo.  That will be the initials of a Baby Boy, but I know for a fact no one will ever guess the name.  I am still in limbo of a Girl's name.  I think it will be BRR.  I know the middle name for sure, but the first name is still in debate in my head.  Once we do have a Baby and know the sex, I will share the name at some point because I know I can't keep that a secret until the due date. 

It seems like I am in dream right now just talking about this stuff because I NEVER in a million years thought this would be a reality.  I am already starting to lose sleep over the worry that something will happen, but I know I am just protecting my heart from a possible break. 

Well, onto another exciting topic...

I think that we might have found the lot to build our new house on.  I sure hope this is the one because it an exhausting ordeal trying to get something that we actually like and not just settle for.   The thing I hate most about living in Dallas is how close the houses are to each other.  I mean seriously, you can touch the house next to you.  But, we will hopefully be in a safer neighborhood with streets to walk down without drunk drivers drive home from the bar next to you like we currently deal with living on Henderson.  So, I am looking forward to having real neighbors for our future kids to play with like I had as a kid.  That was one of the best memories of my childhood.  I loved  just playing with my friends all summer long and on weekends.  Lots of great memories that I want for my own children. 

Getting this lot now will be perfect timing to insure that we will be in a new house by the time we have a Baby.  Hopefully, it will only take six to eight months to build our house and get moved in and ready for Baby R.  The last thing I want to be doing is moving with a newborn.  UUUUUGGGGHHH!!!!!

So, the last thing that is changing in my life, is my job.  It has been SO great getting to work from home and it was a VERY hard decision to make, but I am leaving my job as of next week.  I can't wait to have the time to get the house plans done, meet with Builders and contractors plus all the appointments for Baby.  It will be such a relief to not worry about the hours I would have to be away from work to do the things that need to be done for the house and Baby.  I am VERY lucky to have a Husband that is able to make this all happen.  He is truly the BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!! 

I think that covers all the exciting things going on in my life for now.  Until next time!

The Meeting

I am in a complete state of SHOCK right now!!!  I don't even think it is real, yet.  So surreal!!

So, the dream of being a Mommy is starting to take shape in a BIG way!!  Last Saturday, July 6, 2013, I went to Corner Bakery and met with a potential surrogate and my friend that put us in touch.  We talked for quite a long time and I felt that things were going very well.  At the end of the meeting, she told me that she was also in talks with another potential family.  My heart sank, but I knew that everything would work out the way it was supposed to, so I just stressed for the next few days in my own little way, which meant I did not sleep very much at all and survived on coffee.  That is the worry side of me!  But, by mid week, I was in contact with her and we were scheduling dinner so our Husbands could meet as well as her two boys.  Tonight, July 12, 2013, we met at 7:00pm at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner and talked for a couple hours and just had casual conversation.  It was really laid back and comforting.  At the end of the dinner, they told us that they had been speaking to another Family and decided they were just not the fit for them and had decided that God had led them to chose us.  I was just STUNNED, because I really just did not know what they felt was best for them.  As I sit here and type this post, I still can't believe it and SO excited for this Journey!!   Looking forward to the next year with this selfless Family!! 

The Maids

I never did a post about my Bridesmaids for the wedding.  I wanted to pick the ones in my life that had a positive influence on me and who's values were ones I admired.  So, I chose my Sister, Denise and my Sister in Law, Erin.  I love these girls both very much in very different ways.  My Sister is someone that I pretty much talk to everyday and have a HUGE bond with that goes deeper than just blood.  I can always count on her to be there for me to vent to or just have a good laugh with.  Either way, we have had great times and bad, but it is more of the great times I remember.  Erin is someone that is new to my life by marriage and I am very glad to have her in this big family I have become a part of.  I am very excited to have a closer relationship with her over the years to come. 

For the day of the wedding, I wanted the day to be fun and casual.  We started with breakfast at French Blue, which was such a cool place.  I want to go back with My Husband as soon as we go back to Napa.  After breakfast, we went back to the Hotel to get ready for MY BIG DAY!!!  YAY!!!!  We had champagne and had our hair and makeup done.  I really wanted to pamper both of them for ALL they did for me leading up to the wedding and what they will share with me years down the road.  I wanted them to know how much they meant to me and how appreciative I was for them standing up with me.  It truly was special and I will always cherish the time we had that day getting ready and just being Girls!!  The wraps were from a website called www.ivorysparrow.com and I am telling you right now, if you don't have one of these wraps, you are MISSING OUT!!!  They are amazingly soft!  I wear my everyday while getting ready for the day. 

My Princess Buttercup

Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I LOVE my niece, Lily Grace.  I am missing her as she is in London right now and this will be the longest I have EVER gone without seeing her since the day she was born, so I thought I would do a blog all about My Princess Buttercup (the name I call her).  My Sister waited a long time to have a child, so when I found out she was having a baby I was a little sad because it wasn't me, but I was SO happy for her.  Once she and her Husband found out they were having a girl, my Sister knew that Grace had to be somewhere in the name so we would text back and forth with names that would sound good.  I text her, Lily Grace and she said, no that she was afraid that kids would call her Lily Pad or Lily Licker and she did not want her being made fun of for her name.  I told her that kids could make fun of any name and it really didn't matter what the name was.  So, she told her Husband that I came up with Lily Grace and he really liked it.  So, the next day she called me and said that he told her if I really liked that name, they would let me name their baby.  So, Lily Grace became the name.  I cry just typing that story because it was really selfless of both My Sister and her Husband to let me name their first baby together!  I also ended up moving in with them shortly after Lily was born to help take care of Lily Grace, so I got to spend every single day with her. 

Honeymoon in Paradise

I MUST talk about our honeymoon as it truly was paradise!  We went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and stayed at The Hard Rock.  The weather when we got there was pretty nice, but it rained a lot the first night, but that was ok.  It was PERFECT weather the rest of the time we were there!   The water was AMAZING!  So clear.  I can't wait to go back,  It was the PRETTIEST place I have ever been to so far for sure!! 

Life in the fast lane...

Well, the wedding happened and I did not post as often as I thought I would.  It was CRAZY busy the last couple of months leading up to the wedding, but it was TONS OF FUN!!  Everything turned out perfectly.  The weather was FABULOUS!!  I will make a post later on how great several of the vendors were for the wedding.  I think the #1 question that I am always asked is how I planned a wedding in Napa without the help of a wedding planner that knew the vendors in that area.  I just did a lot of research on Wedding Wire, The Knot and Google.  Here are a few picture from our wedding day.