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Monday, December 20, 2010

Happy Holidays from us to you!

This will be a very, very blessed Christmas for us in SO many ways. We can't wait to see Blaze's face Christmas morning!!!

We have been busy little bees, working, shopping,  replacing and fishing out big $$$$ for a new water heater since the old one suddenly decided to burst (right before Christmas, I might add ), getting family photos done (not at all in time for Christmas cards..yes I officially suck), dealing with my TMJ which locked my jaw for 2 days straight and me living on milkshakes, soups and muscle relaxants (gotta love them drugs), spending lots of quality time with Papa and Grandma, doing fun-filled local family outings like the annual Phoenix Zoo Lights and the State Fair. Oh, and did I mention shopping???  Yes, shopping, shopping, shopping for Christmas.  So much for another year of 'getting a head start'!  One of these years I'll get it right!?

WHEW...last thing on our minds was/is blogging...Sorry folks (however I have been keeping up with everyone else's blog adventures when I get a spare minute or two.)

Well here is a few updated photos of our little guy, who is not just walking, but running all over the place.  So much to tell and so little time...I promise more details after the holidays.  Until then... A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON TO ONE AND ALL!!!!!




 Just a few of our family shoot...not easy with a 15 month old and a puppy...WHEW!

 Still not sure about this guy with the beard???

 Keeping warm at night-time Zoo lights.

A FULL day at the State Fair where Blaze:
Rode the little roller coaster

AND...
the huge Ferris-wheel... NO FEAR!!!

Enjoyed the sights with Papa and Grandma,

and met a whole bunch of new furry friends.

 One of Blaze's FAVORITE things to do every day...hiding Neyla's food ALL over the house.

 Who needs the fair?  This ride is awesome!

I LOVE the zoo!!!

 0 to 1 year of growth chart done...I know a little crowded.

" How many pennies is that water heater repair man???"

Everyone LOVES Grandma!

 Still the happiest little boy in the world!!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

REFLECTION...

Our blog book arrived the other day.  It is a hard cover bound, 400 page packed, beautiful book about BLAZE'S STORY.



I hope and pray someday he will read it with pride.  We both share in our love for India and our forever connection we will have with it. We have always been very open and honest about our journey and were one of the first few blogs about surrogacy in India.  It was a long and emotional journey filled with major highs and unbelievable lows.  In the end we won the battle and reaped the rewards of a precious little Angel born to us almost 15 months ago.  I still look at Blaze and cannot believe he is here with us. 

While putting all the information into Blaze's blog book I had to review each and every post and comment from the very beginning... April 2008!  Seems like a lifetime ago.  What started as merely a journal and some FYI info. for others who may be interested in Surrogacy in India, became SO much more: 
  • 50,000 plus blog views
  • Personal emotions and details shared
  • Thousands of photo were taken
  • Ultimate joy and heart-wrenching pain
  • Endless memories we will hold dear to our hearts for a lifetime
  • Intimate connections made from people all over the world
  • Friendships were made and friendships were lost along the way
  • Media coverage: photos, interviews, news clippings and magazine spreads 
  • Helping to create and be a part of an ongoing India surrogacy support forum (certainly giving and taking my punches at that) 
  • Criticism, opposition, and conflict 
  • Support, encouragement, gratitude and love
Infertility is a world filled with crazy passionate emotions, comments are made in the heat of the moment, people are hurt, and clinics are bashed.  In the end, no one person or clinic or doctor or hospital is perfect.  We read, we research, we become more educated.   After all this time and energy is spent, we take a leap of faith hoping and praying that we have made the right choice.  The right choice for you and your family, not for anyone else.

Do we have any regrets???  NO!  We couldn't change things now anyway.  As the saying goes...What does not kill us only makes us stronger.  We all learn from our mistakes, failures and experiences.  This is who we are...love us or hate us, in the end we have ultimately changed others lives with sharing our story.  We weren't the very first couple to have done this, and we won't be the last.  We took a chance and  we succeeded. 

We are forever indebted to all the people in India, including our Doctors who had any part in giving us our greatest gift, our son.  We will continue to sing their praises and remain proud of how we overcame our infertility challenges with their help.  Our story is unique, but not so uncommon anymore.  We have never been ashamed or embarrassed to share our story and experiences with anyone, we have tried to help others with their own personal journey's, as we knew how foreign and unfamiliar this territory was when we began.  We only wish at that time, we had so many others to pave the way for us.  We did this voluntarily, and contrary to others opinions we have never received so much as a dime.  As crazy as others have called us for advertising our story, we felt like we had found hope when all else had failed. We had won our own personal lottery. 

We remain in constant contact with the incredible people who made our dreams come true...Blaze's Godparents, Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yashodhara the owners of our Mumbai clinic, Surrogacy India and our amazing surrogate KT.  From day one we were blessed with a positive and fulfilling view of India and all its beauty and culture.  To this day both Doctors continue to thank us for believing in them and say we are apart of co-founding Surrogacy India and their dream to make babies possible.  We created a friendship, a bond, for life with our Doctors for what we have shared with them, we now consider them family.  We were their first international clients. We were thrilled to have taken a leap of faith and found in them, an incredible, affordable and manageable solution to our dreams of having a family.  We were over the moon, we wanted to shout from the highest roof tops that our prayers had been answered.  We wanted everyone to know there were other options, and so we shared this gift with others in hopes that they too would experience the joy of fulfilling their dreams.  What a wonderful feeling it is to have someone tell you, that 'because of you opening up and sharing  your story and experiences, their dreams have come true', both from IP's and from our Doctors.  To now, be one couple of many who are a referral for our Doctors, for their superb treatment of us, our surrogates and our son throughout our entire journey, was the least we could do for them, as they gave us the ultimate payoff, our greatest reward of all... our beautiful and perfect child, Blaze.

We hope that our pride will be shared by our son.  He may not announce it to the world that he is an IVF child born in India via egg donor and a gestational surrogate, and that's perfectly okay with us, it will certainly be his choice to share all or nothing.  But we do hope and pray that he personally embraces his conception, origin and common bond and love for India as we both have. We still consider India  a second home to us, and we will return with Blaze when he is old enough to understand and hopefully enjoy and join in our pride of this amazing country. 

To each and every person who has shared in, learned from, followed along or lurked from afar in our journey from day one or even just today, we thank you for being there. They weren't all happy times, but they were ours.  Good, bad and indifferent times, we are forever changed because of you.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Happy Halloween...a little late!


Mommy's little Caveman, complete with brown glitter eye shadow (aka dirt) on his sweet little face!  I know, I know...he is going to have something to say about that when he grows up, but I had no other 'dirt looking' non-sparkling eye shadow.  OH WELL, I will suffer with the future consequences, just because he looked SO DARN CUTE!!!  Not a bad hand-made costume (with a little help from very multi-talented Grandma) from my not-so-crafty self which also included his Bam Bam Caveman bat.


Thursday, September 30, 2010

WE WON...WE WON...WE WON!!!!!

What????? We NEVER and do I mean NEVER win anything!  What an amazing surprise to get this email.  I am still in shock.  All I can say is Thanks ever so much to Becky and Ashley from '2 Moms Talk' and the creators of Cutest Blog on the Blog.  They are both so talented.  We can't wait to get Blaze's book together.  What an awesome keepsake for him for many, many years to come! 

Monday, September 27, 2010

We SO want to win...

What timing do I have????  Just stumbled upon this blog from my friend Danielle's blog list and low and behold, its what we are trying to do... 


The contest is from the makers of Cutest Blog on the Block (where I got our blog template).  Keep your fingers crossed for us to be chosen to win.  It would really mean a lot to help us out with this book which we discovered will be over 400 pages at this point.  WHEW, we have been busy bees for the last 2 years.  I will let you know the outcome later in the week. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A YEAR IN REVIEW

So much has happened in the blink of an eye.  Just one short year ago our Angel came into our lives and it would be forever changed.  Here is just a few of the highlights that have brought us so much happiness with Blaze in our world:

 
Our very first real image of our Angel - 19 weeks old


Just Born - August 26th, 2009 10:22 pm


Mommy & Daddy's greatest gift from God...Blaze's Birth Day.


2 days old and stealing everyone's hearts


Welcome Home! Meeting big sister Frankie - 1st month



First time in our swimming in my pool - 1 Month Old


Welcome Home! -1 Month Old


First visitors from Canada (Aunt Tracy and cousins Micaela & Megan) - 1 Month Old 


First trip to the Grand Canyon - 1 Month Old


Meeting Grandma & Papa for the first time - 2 Months Old


 First Happy Halloween  - 2 Months Old


Sleeping thru the night  - 2 Months Old

First giggles - 3 Months Old


Started Stage 1 baby  foods - 3 Months Old



Love looking in the Mirror - 3 Months Old

First Thanksgiving (So much to give thanks for) - 3 Months Old


 
Merry Christmas!  Blaze's first Christmas - 4 Months Old


Just so cute we had to add another First Christmas photo - 4 Months Old


Standing tall with help - 5 Months Old


  Started Stage 2 Baby food - 5 Months Old


 
No more swaddler (AKA straight jacket) - 5 Months Old


Starting Swimming Lessons - 5 1/2  Months Old


Using a sippy cup like a big boy - 6 Months Old
 

New fur sister Neyla  -  6 Months Old
   Rolling, Rolling, Rolling - 7 Months Old


  Found his feet - 7 Months Old


Sitting up by himself - 8 Months Old


 
First Tooth - 8 Months Old


First Fishing Trip - 8 Months Old


 
Started Stage 3 Baby Foods - 8 Months Old
Taking steps with help - 9 Months Old



Starting to crawl - 10 Months Old


 
Said 'DaDa' (your first word) - 10 Months Old


Pulling self up and standing - 10 Months Old


No more Formula - Whole Milk for the big boy - 11 Months Old


Graduates to big boy bath - 11 Months Old


First Haircut - 11 Months Old


Time Flies - 1 Year Old