Some of our great fundraiser shirts

These are a few of the great shirts that we are selling to raise funds for the adoption.  I tried to add a widget to the side but I am computer challenged...so I have to get some technical help for that!  But for now, please visit our site at www.adoptionbug.com/asherussia  They are great shirts and for a great cause!!  Thanks so much for visiting!!

Happy Friday the 13th

Just finished listening to about an hour about how to do an assessment on a patient...and I was tired before, but talk about needing to hold my eyelids open!  It's fun times like that that make me realize how old I've gotten.  Friday night, 9pm...and all I can think about is getting my schoolwork finished so I can go to bed.  Wow, when did that happen?  I remember in the olden days when I would try to finish my work so I could go out...hahahaha...who am I kidding, I never worried about finishing the work first, I worried about going out!!  My how times have changed!

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that this will be a short post tonight, assuming I don't fall asleep on the keyboard and post a bunch of incoherent letters typed by my forehead (hey, it's happened before!)  I had to post something on this very exciting Friday the 13th because it has been an exciting week for us.  I got word at the first part of the week that I am supposed to start my medications on Monday to get ready to do our IVF the week of February 12th for the surrogacy!  So, that is great news, becuase finally we have a time frame for things.  It's always nice to get things put in place a little bit.  Now I can start to plan things to do with that...not that there's much for me to plan...get pregnant...eat ice cream...eat more ice cream...get fat...have a baby (or babies if my streak continues)....deliver babies....go to the gym...    You know, the usual stuff!

The other exciting thing that happened is that we officially submitted our application for the adoption today!!!  We already got loads of papers to read, sign, and notarize and that apparently is small potatoes compared to the amount of paperwork we will have to do in the next couple of months.  So, now comes the fun of home study and getting things notarized twice (yeah, twice) and giving them loads of money...so now comes the panic too!  I know we are doing the right thing with all of this, and I feel totally comfortable with that, but unless one of the dogs starts laying golden eggs, we honestly aren't sure where that amount of money will come from!  But, we believe that He will provide for us and we have heard incredible stories of how that has happened for people who have listened to the call.

Last thing...thank you again for being here, please keep us in your prayers with everything going on.  If you like cool tshirts, try this out:  www.adoptionbug.com/asherussia  We have set up a fundraiser selling these really great shirts!  They are cute and we get a part of the money you pay for each of them.  So, you can get a great shirt and help us bring our baby home--what could be better!!  Soon there will also be a link on the side of this page...but I have to figure out how to do this widget thing with one that I have to create...could be a little bit for that...if you know me, you know I'm challenged sometimes with that (thank God for Jeremy of we would have had several computers through a window by now!)

Such a cute kid!!

My HULKS!!

Don't let the sweet face fool you!

My 3 favorite boys

For my fans

Wow, I appreciate all of the support I have gotten from everyone...maybe i already said that...but it's worth saying again!  Anyway...I had a request (yeah, I'm like a rock star now...I get requests) to talk about how I met my husband.  So, this one's for you Kimberlee (for the record, I still think of you as Kimbe).  I can only assume that you would want to know where anyone could find a guy that would agree to the crazy ideas I come up with! 

Let me start by saying, he's awesome!  No, I'm not just saying that cause I know he might read this, i really think he's a great guy.  Don't get me wrong, we've had some pretty impressive ups and downs, and I'm sure we will in the future also, but I can't imagine going through this tornado without him.  So....how did we meet....

Well, let me start by saying that when I met him I had just been through a pretty horrible breakup (think: moved across the country to be with a guy and get hardcore dumped the first week I was there).  I was finally starting to put things back together after living with my parents for a while (yeah, awesome), and moved back to Rock Hill to be with my friends and get back to school.  At this point I was living with three girls in a two bedroom townhouse.  Wow, talk about crazy.  You should have seen that place at 8 on a Thursday night!  With only one bathroom, it was cramped to put it mildy.  The story of us living together could be whole post on its own, so I'll just leave it at that!  Getting back to my story...you'll have to excuse me, I tend to get a little off track sometimes!  Meanwhile, back at the ranch...I got a job at the no longer exsistant LoneStar Steakhouse in Pineville.  For the record, I never worked there when they did the line dancing, so don't ask!  While working there, I became friends with some people and we tended to hang out as a group quite a bit.  There was a good mix of guys and girls, and we got to be friends pretty fast.

 In that group there was a guy...well, at the time I kind of just considered him a jerk (sorry babe, but you already knew that).  This guy was a total flirt!  He could flirt with a post if you put a skirt on it!  The thing I remember most was those black and white adidas tennis shoes (which, by the way he is currently wearing), and this green phone he always had.  He just had this, "I'm awesome" thing going on.  So, naturally, I despised him (if you know me at all, you could have guesssed that, I can't stand cocky).  So, yo may be asking yourself, how did this cocky annoying guy get together with such an amazing girl (haha, even I can't say that with a straight face!)?  In come the friends-you know who you are-...and the bet.  Yep, you heard me right-a bet!  So, word on the street around here is that two people bet Jeremy that he couldn't get me to go out with him, and him being cocky like he was, he couldn't fail at that!

So, he started asking me out, even going so far as to buying movie tickets before work and asking me to a movie.  Well, I obviously was skeptical since I pretty much hated him, so I finally told him that if he wanted to go out, he could meet my friends and I at the Longbranch (woot woot) on Thursday night.  Never in a million years did I think he would show up!  But, man am I glad he did!!  That was officially our first date, though I honestly can't say I remember most of it (it was college and yes, I had some drinks before he showed up), I'm so glad it happened.  I guess the rest is history...we were together from that night on.  We dated for a while and ended up married a couple years later.  Even had one of the girls involved in the bet as a bridesmaid, which is somewhat ironic. 

So I guess you could say that a lost bet for one side was such a win for the other.  I seriously can't imagine any other man being able to handle all of the things I have thrown at him from the surrogacy to the adoption.  He has been so supportive and amazing through all of it.  Even just in the few weeks that we have seriously been trying to work on the adoption he has been there with an incredible faith that we are heading the right direction and seems to know the perfect thing to say to keep me on the path we know we should be on.  Most days it feels like I am the tornado and he is that brick house that just stands and weathers the storm.  We have come  a long way from when we first got married and didn't say things cause we didn't want to make the other one mad...now we know we need to say things or else the other one will end up mad! 

We have our 10 year anniversary this year in August (I still can't believe that), and I know that we will have so many more.  I am so blessed to have found him to have as a friend, husband and father.  I'm pretty sure that I don't tell him enough, so hopefully he's keeping up with this too and he'll know!!

Thanks for visiting!!

Blowing in the Wind

I'm sitting here in a very quiet house, which if you know me, doesn't happen very often.  Jeremy is at the Orange Bowl (Go Tigers!), and the boys have finally given in and gone to sleep.  I tend to get really sentimental during these times if I don't keep myself busy, so here I am.  I did a little school work, but that doesn't really start until next week, so I figured I would post something brilliant here to keep my mind working...or keep my mind from going crazy..you pick!

So then the question becomes, what to write about?  I'll be honest, I can't write about the adoption stuff right now because I'm a little nervous, scared, and worried about it and don't want to get into it.  Guess that leaves some of the surrogacy stuff.  We are on track to do the transfer (which is the IVF) around the first half of February, which will put me due around the end of October.  Good planning, I know...pregnant over the summer...in SC...awesome.  Other times that I have been a surrogate I have gotten some really great questions about the whole process an how things work.  People get really curious when they ask you what you are having and you tell them, "2 girls, but they aren't mine".  Another good one is when they ask Jeremy when the baby is due and he tells them, "I think in January, but they aren't my babies"  It's lots of fun. 

So if you are one of those people who is wondering about how it works, here it goes:  (for those of you who couldn't care less, you can stop here :)  First, you have to know the lingo.  I am considered the "gestational carrier", the parents that will be getting the baby(ies) are the Intended Parents, or "IP's".  The transfer is what its called when we do the IVF to get pregnant (no, no turkey basters here!).  In my case, I do not use my own eggs.  Some do that, but that wasn't something that we thought was a good idea.  Pretty sure it would make it a little harder to use my eggs, carry that baby, then give it away...not good for my mommy sanity!  That being said, since it's all artificial for me, I get to take lots of drugs before, during and after that trasfer so that it will work.  Big needles, not big fun...but I'm tough so it's all good.  But wait, I haven't even told you how we get to this part...let me back up!  First, I had to go through lots of testing, medical, psychological, etc before I could get approved to do this.  Then, they work to match me with couples that have the same views on things, then you decide if they are a fit on paper (sometimes the first try, sometimes you go through a few), and after both sides are good you can talk on the phone.  If that goes well, then you can meet in person.  Talk about nervous!  You are meeting them for the first time and deciding if you would like to carry their baby...awkward...If you are lucky (like I was) you hit it off, talk for hours, and feel like you have been friends forever and have no doubts.  If not...well then there are decisions to make.

So then the rest is history.  You have a normal pregnancy, deliver some babies and go back to life as usual.  Wait...you think there could be more to that?  Well, I have to say, it's hard to put into words being able to see someone with their babies they have been waiting for so long for and knowing that you helped them get there.  I will have to tell the story of the most amazing moment that I had through all of this.  I'm not sure if they remember this, but the first  couple wasn't able to make it to the delivery, so Jeremy and I were lucky enough to get to hold them, feed them, and just spend some time with those beautiful girls before they got there (we got to do that after too, I just remember this best).  When they got there, both girls were swaddled and under the warmer sleeping.  Their first daughter was born very early and had to be in NICU for a while so at first they didn't get that awesome baby snuggle time with her right away.  When they came into the room they both just stared at those girls and didn't make a move to pick them up.  I remember saying, "you can pick them up you know" and instantly the tears started flowing everywhere.  It was amazing and one of the best moments of my life!!!

Well, I didn't really plan for that to be such a little emotional love fest, but I thought I would share why I do what I do.  We have been unmeasurably blessed, and I can't even imagine not being able to have the joy (yes, I said joy) of pregnancy and the wonder of motherhood.  What else can make you want to cry for 50 different reasons in an hour than kids?  I feel very blessed that I can help someone else experience what I have. 

Thanks again for being here, I really appreciate being able to put this all on paper.  Sorry for all the spelling and grammar errors, have to save my smart juice for school!  Have a happy and blessed day!

Welcome

Well, here goes nothin, a blog about our crazy whirlwind that we call life.  Guess I should start by giving some history about me and my family.  I've been married for 9 years, have two amazing boys, 7 and almost 5 and work as a Registered Nurse.  We also have 3 4-legged rescue dogs who make our already crazy house just a little more wild.   Right now I work full time, take care of the kids, dogs, and house, and go to graduate school full time, which doesn't leave too much room for much else! 

Amid all of this wind we have added a few more things to get us up to "tornado" status.  I've been a gestional carrier (surrogate) twice in the past few years and have had the amazing opportunity to havee two sets of twins for two couples.  It's definately a unique experience to carry babies for someone else and then be able to hand them over to their parents.  Now we are in the process of starting that journey again, and are working with a couple overseas.  Looks like at this point the IVF will happen in the first couple of weeks of February, and hopefully it will work the first time around and I will be pregnant with another baby (or babies) soon!  The good news is that I will be mostly working from home soon so I will be able to avoid maternity clothes at work...thank goodness!  I'll keep you posted on how that's going!

So...our other current adventure is working on adding to our family...but by adoption this time.  I have been thinking about this for a while, and finally mentioned it to Jeremy a copule of months ago.  I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a little crazy!  First the surrogacy, and now adoption.  Thank goodness he is so great and is willing ot consider my crazy ideas.  After we did a little more research and talking with people, we both decided that this was the right path for us.  So, we are in the process of picking an agency to work with and getting some questions answered so we know we are even eligible.  Right now, our plan is to adopt from Russia.  And, since we get to pick, we will be planning for a little girl.  There's a lot that has to go into this, and from all the checking we have done, I am going to have to find some patience somewhere.  If anyone knows where I can find some, that would be great!  Even waiting to get a response from emails is already killing me, so I can only imagine how rough this will be for me.  Thank goodness for my amazing friends and family who have already talked me down from the ledges and will I'm sure be doing that lots more in the next year of two!

Wow...writing all this really makes me realize how crazy this must look from the outside.  But, the view from the inside seems like this is the way it needs to be.  I know this is the right path for us, and can't imagine any other life!