Here we go again!

What is it with the Netherlands and anonymous posting? I appreciate that there are people who feel that circumcise is wrong. I'd love to hear your point of view. However, no posting and running. Please either leave me a valid email address or blog so that we can have an intelligent discussion. Anyone? Bueller?

While it sucks

and I do appreciate your support, I'd like to let it drop now.

Don't worry

I'm not locking down. I was angry because someone I allowed to read my blog decided to use it against me and turn things out of context. I'm not going away and I'm not locking down. I won't be forced to go into hiding.

Private Blogging

I'm considering creating a private blog that is password protected. Please don't ask why. I know that blogspot doesn't offer that - can someone tell me who does? Yep - it's my turn to ask questions.

Reader Questions

From Marisa - I do! I do! At the risk of setting off a firestorm... we've been discussing the circumcision question for months. There's (obviously) strong religions tradition at play (which my partner and I share with you), and there there are also the people who say it's an unnecessary risk, done for cosmetic reasons and tradition. We're feeling really torn about it. Julie, do you mind sharing what was behind your decision to do it? Religious tradition? Health reasons? Something else altogether? Our decision wasn't that difficult. All of the men in both of our families have been circumcised. We spoke with my sister-in-law who is a pediatrician about the medical risks, we discussed the issues he may have psychologically (most children are still circumcised - do we want him to stand out in that respect?). We decided that for both religious and psychological reasons - we wanted to have this done. From Amy - Ha ha Chrissi is cracking me up! And I can kind of relate to that, being married to a man from England, where they also don't typically circ (and who is also adamantly against it - but I personally believe that whatever anyone wants to do is just fine and most certainly not up to me). Although in this forum I didn't mean to set off a circ debate. I assumed that you two would circ for religious reasons and wanted to know what you two were planning on doing. I think it's very interesting. Can you explain to us what a Mikvah is? Thanks! Don't worry about Amy - I had a feeling this may touch off a bit of a discussion. A Mikvah is a ritual bath. It is used at various times in a Jewish person's life. In Dylan's case, we will use the Mikvah as part of the conversion process. As more questions are asked, I will either post them here or start a new one :)

A Little Q&A

My dear friend, Amy asked me a few questions that I thought (actually - she mentioned) it would be good to answer here. 1. Was Dylan circumcised in Guatemala? No. Guatemala is a Catholic country and they, typically, do not circumcise their boys. 2. In the event he was not circumcised - how is it handled here (from the religious standpoint as well as medical). When Dylan is a little older - we will have the procedure done in a hospital. We will also have a bris for him. Instead of the Moyl doing the actual procedure, Dylan will have his finger pricked to symbolize the bloodletting. These will take place several months from now for two reasons. First of all, doctors prefer to wait till a child is at least, I believe, 8 months old to do an older baby circumcision. Second, we don't want to overwhelm him with the procedure and the bris celebration. We want him to adjust to being home first. We will also take him through a conversion which will include bringing him to the Mikvah. So.... who has questions?

Wholly Shit! a/k/a You Learn Something New Every Day

Got into the office bright and early. Went through my emails. Was just catching up on a few blogs when that little box popped up on my screen... "You Have Mail". I opened the email and it was from the social worker - a new photo of Dylan! But, what's this? At the bottom of the email I see a note from the liason that says... "Passport Baby Foxx". HUH????? I opened the photo and there it was, a copy of our son's passport. Now, I did a little thinking (and researching)... in order to get the passport, you must have the birth certificate right? Yep - we have a birth certificate (turns out he wasn't born in Guatemala City like we thought). I'm thinking we should have pink in the next 24-48 hours. We WILL have our boy home by Chanukah!

You've heard of drunk dialing???

How about drunk blogging (snicker). Yep - after a few beers at the local bar where Marc and I had dinner and watched a little football and then, after coming home (I only had a few beers so I drove and then proceeded to have a few glasses of wine), I decided to post. ADOPTION PEOPLE - come here a second (told you I was drunk). Ok, you need to go to Target. No, not later, now! It's not too bad yet with the holiday shopping. Why is it at the end of the month and no one told me that Target was celebrating National Adoption Month??? Why did I discover this last night and not earlier?? Can I just say that Target (Tarje' as my Mom calls it) is my new favorite place in the whole wide world? Marc and I decided to stop and pick up a few things for Dylan and as we approached the check out counter there was a little corner thingie with adoption books. There were only two left. One was geared toward adoptions from China and the other was generic. It was wonderful. It wasn't geared toward domestic or international. It wasn't geared toward single, hetero couple or gay couple. EVERYONE was included. I stood in the middle of the isle in Target, reading this book with Marc and got very very emotional. Very excited. I'm too lazy to remember the name of the book right now (ok - too drunk) but it was based on an adoption song and if you really want to know, tell me and I'll post the name. So... after our little dinner thing at the bar, we came home and Marc built me a pretty awesome fire in the fireplace where I proceeded to roast a half a bag of marshmellows. You know how people say that if you deny your kids things that they will overindulge as adults? That's me... roasted marshmellows. Of course, my denial in the roasted marshmellow world is my parents would yell at me for roasting marshmellows over the flame of our gas stove. One of the millions of reasons I love my darling husband... he did the same thing when he was kid. Where's my Wessel??? I am thinking of you my friend. I hope you are well and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. My Dearest JanuaryOne (knitting readers - check out her uber awesome blog www.januaryone.com). I'm so sorry I missed you. I heard my brother and your sister surprised everyone. I figured the little germ monkeys would be enough without me adding to the mix. I hope you will come down to meet Dylan. Time to see if my team won. Marc was cheering quite loudly a little while ago and since we were ahead, I hope it means we clinched it :)

AAAAHHHHCCCHHHOOOOOO!!!!

Yeah, that's been my Thanksgiving. Coughing up a lung and sneezing all over everything. I missed Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house (which I heard was amazing) but, on the flip side, my wonderful husband made us our own little dinner. I have so much to be thankful for this year... here's a little list (just the tip of the iceberg)... My wonderful husband, Marc who is my rock, my life, my love My beautiful son-to-be, Dylan My beautiful son-to-be's birth mother My family who puts the fun back into dysfunctional My sister the Princess because she reminds me of what it is like to be young My dear friends Joelle & Jenn because they just get it My soul sister, Barb, because it was all meant to be My blog friends - because you've all been there, done that and have a few too many tee shirts to show for it My job because they are the greatest group of people I've ever had the honor of working with and for My cats, Saffron & Shadow, because no mater what I shit I am, they love me I'm thankful that this outlet of blogging exists. It has helped keep me sane during some pretty insane times. Oh, and I'm thankful 91x in San Diego is doing a webcast of their Sunday show today so I can enjoy some good 80's music while I write this :)

I think this is my favorite quiz!

Dawn Summers 81% amorality, 81% passion, 63% spirituality, 63% selflessness

Dawn is a person driven by her love for her friends and her desire to make a difference. Perhaps you are, too. You're willing to do whatever is necessary to do what is right for those you care about, and sometimes this can get you in a little bit of trouble. Most of all, however, you have a heart of gold. Congratulations! If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in the following: Nerds, Geeks & Dorks Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE 4-VARIABLE BUFFY PERSONALITY TEST

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 94% on morality You scored higher than 88% on repose You scored higher than 50% on spirituality You scored higher than 80% on selflessness

Link: The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test -------------------------------------------------------------

Much thanks to Shelli for the link!

WWWHHHHEEEEE!!!!!

We got Dylan's furniture! Here's the crib... And here is the dresser... We also got the glider but I didn't have time to take the plastic off and photograph it so I'll do that later :)

Why are people so stupid??

Last night, to celebrate our good fortune, Marc and I went to the movies. Actually, we were given a free pass to see "Walk The Line" by a friend and it was hosted by a local radio station. They had a Johnny Cash cover band which played two songs and then stopped. Then they announced.... "Is anyone a doctor or nurse, we have a medical emergency down here". A man sitting in the front section was basically dying. Years ago I had taken CPR and even had to use it once. Since no one appeared to be helping I ran down to the front. When I got there a woman asked me if I was medically trained and I told her just basic CPR. Turns out... she was a nurse. I immediately backed off and told her to just let me know if she needed me to do anything. She asked me to try to find the pulse which I did but it was very very faint. During this time there were two women who were screaming directions at the nurse. I finally asked them if either of them were medical personnel - they said no so I told them to shut the fuck up and one of them sat down. Another woman came over - she was a cardiac care nurse. Meanwhile, the staff at Loews was just standing around. They opened the emergency door and just fucking stood there. The cardiac nurse was screaming for a mouth piece to do CPR. I ran over to one person who said "I'm just security - I don't actually work here", another person said there was a mouth piece in the first aid kit so I told her to go get it. She then proceeded to tell her little whipping boy to get it. She knew where it was but sent him instead - I don't believe he came back. The poor cardiac nurse was crying her eyes out because she was doing mouth to mouth on a strange man with a history of medical issues (which were unknown specifically what they were by his companion - a neighbor) and she had no idea if this man has hepatitis or another communicable disease! The ambulance arrived (very quickly but it felt like forever) and I realize that the bands speakers are plugged into the wall and the cables are across the path of where the gurney had to go - I just looked at the staff, they didn't move so I told them to get out of the fucking way, pulled the cable and made sure they had a clear path. All this time, the stupid crackwhore is trying to tell the nurses (and then the medical staff) what to do. This person wasn't a health care professional, she didn't know the man... just was just a busy body. If you are ever in this situation and you are not trained, either be on hand to help out those that are medical personnel or shut the fuck up and sit down and mind your own business. If that had been my friend or family member - that woman would have been drop kicked across the theater!

Appropriate No?

You're a punk rock mommy! DIY is probably your
motto, because you're a punk mama at heart.
Your kids are getting your independent spirit
and guts, and learning to solve problems
themselves. You love it when they show their
independence, even when it's breaking your
heart.

What kind of a freaky mother are you?
brought to you by Quizilla Much love and thanks to Shelli for this very appropriate quiz!

WE'RE IN LABOR FOLKS!

Quick! Boil Water, Get Some Clean Towels, Some Newspapers!!!! WE ARE OUT OF PGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guatemala has approved the adoption. We are waiting on his birth certificate and then we travel and bring our son home! AAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!!!

This one is for my darling husband!

Fun at the Titty Twister. Which B-Movie Badass Are You? brought to you by

If you are related to Marc or I.....

You really should skip this post (unless you want to know more about our sex lives - in that case - please don't admit to having read this post). While we are waiting for our family members to run screaming from my blog... Check out my new guest map! It's really nice and can handle many more names so please sign in (even if you signed in before because I wasn't able to transfer them over). Thanks! ~looking around~ Ok, no relatives? Ok good...... I still feel like we are on the fertility roller coaster. Our sex life hasn't returned to normal yet and that has me worried. This isn't to say that I don't find Marc attractive or that he doesn't turn me on. Nothing can be further from the truth. I find him super hot and super sexy... it's me. I have to get my head away from feeling like I'm broken. Ah yes, something else to add to my "what to talk about in therapy" list. Marc and I have gotten ourselves into the habit of sex belongs in the bedroom. Except this one time, when we were first married, very overweight in a very small shower. Let's just say we were laughing too hard to have sex. Anyway, yesterday afternoon we finally got out of our rut and discovered that a roaring fire (yes, I know it was 65 degrees outside - who cares!) is a definite aphrodisiac. I love being close to him. I love making love to him. It's getting past my brain that is the tough part (once I'm past it I'm fine - it's just getting past it that is the hard part). So, fellow infertiles, how do you get past this? How do you get past the feelings of being broken or defective or whatever? How to you find your sexual self?

Me? A Monster????

Your Monster Profile

Infamous Professor You Feast On: Bananas You Lurk Around In: Candy Factories You Especially Like to Torment: Republicans

What's Your Monster Name?

Ramblings

I'm sad for my friend Liana. She lost her Mom yesterday morning. I can't even imagine what she must be feeling or what she is going through right now. It's such a big fear of mine... losing my parents. I know that it's part of life but it scares me. I also just found out that one of my friends got her period after her 3rd IVF. My heart aches for her and her husband. I don't know if she reads my blog but T, you are in my thoughts and in my prayers. ------------------------------------- I'm in so much pain today. I hired a trainer yesterday to create a new workout for me (I was bored with the old one). Of course I asked my girl crush, H, do train me. Oh, have I mentioned I have a crush on one of the trainers in my gym? She's so freaking hot it's not funny (as Marc said, you could bounce a half dollar off this woman's ass). Now, she's not hot in the pornstar kinda way, she's hot in the fitness kinda way (does that make sense?). On top of that, she is super cool and very sweet. Well, she kicked my ass so I'm not sure if I still have a crush on her or not. I'll let you know when my poor muscles heal.

Doing the Update Dance!

We are out of family court and have pre-approval! We should be in PGN today. What this all means is we are one step closer to bringing our boy home. Our social worker is thinking that we will be traveling in January to get him. I hope it's December and she said it's possible. Unlikely, but possible.

Sorry

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been playing with the twins all week and, when they weren't around, doing shit around the house and running crazy errands. OMG - my friends made themselves some beautiful babies! They are so well behaved and so sweet. Last night I was feeding the little boy and he was breaking my heart. Just grabbed my finger and held it against his little face as he drank his bottle. My friends are very cool and let Marc and I do things that other friends have never thought to let us do like put them into their carseat. Hey - we need all of the practice we can get! Speaking of Dylan... we got a new photo and he's laughing his beautiful little butt off. He's up to 14.2lbs and is just growing like a weed. I miss him so much it hurts. Imagine that... missing someone you've never met. Bonding with someone you've never spoken to or even touched. This boy has touched me - he's touched my heart and my soul. We are out of family court and just waiting on pre-approval from the US Embassy so that we can move forward into PGN (Guatemalan version of the Attorney General's Office) for approval. Then it's birth certificate, pink and then we travel. I'll blog more over the weekend :)