Dad, Daddy, Papa?

We have our baby names, the nursery is done, our plane tickets are purchased - we are pretty much ready to go and get our kids!  The one thing we haven't decided is what we want them to call us.  The thing is this, when talking to a baby, you often (or at least we do with our dogs) refer to yourself in the first person - 'daddy loves you' - 'can you smile for papa?' - 'dad wants you to stop crying'.  Yes, I know you can't really control what your kids call you - as toddlers or as they grow up.  I have an Aunt Choo Choo (her name is Shirley) and I still call her that to this day!  Not sure how I got from Aunt Shirley to Aunt Choo Choo.  So, on the one hand, why worry about it - on the other hand, my obsessive nature wants this detail ironed out.  Thoughts anyone?  We talked about Daddy and Daddy T.  We are pretty sure Steve will be Daddy...he will be the primary caregiver. Papa sounds so formal.

I have been out of town on business much of the past two weeks.  Last weekend I was in LA and I developed a bad case of the 'I miss LA blues'.  It was 67 degrees at night (19 Celsius) - every night.  We had dinner outside with the air so still and so comfortable.  Just amazing.  I went through our Sunday 'routine' - gym, mass, lunch - but Steve wasn't there with me so it all felt so odd.  I text him 'I miss LA' and he text back 'just think about raising the kids here in Dallas'.  We moved primarily because we decided that raising kids in LA was not for us.  The fact is, Texas is a wonderful place and when I wrote a few posts back about leaving my heart there, it was true.  Texas gets a bad wrap.  Yes, Texas did produce the worst president in our lifetime.  Yes, Texas does have more than its share of conservative, absurd politicians and hypocritical, religious zealots.  Yes, it is hotter than hell in the summer.  But...and this is a big, important BUT...people are genuinely nice.  Case in point - a couple of weekends back, I was sitting at a stop light, waiting to turn left at a red arrow - the light turned from red to green and we sat there - the car at the light wasn't moving - the car in front of me and behind me sat quietly - 10 seconds later the light turned red.  What was odd about this?  NOONE BLEW THEIR HORNS!  It was oddly shocking.  In LA, not only would there have been an onslaught of honking horns, there is a strong likelihood that someone would have gone over to the driver's window and pulled the person from their car and beat them - OK, I exaggerate - but, there would have been honking, screaming and lots of waving middle fingers.  This is one example.  We made the right decision for us and for the kids - and we saw my parents more in one month than we had typically seen them in a year's time.  There is an enormous gay community in Texas, and particularly in Dallas - I have so many friends from over the years there, so there is no lack of 'community'.  I feel our stress level going down and I am quite certain we have added 10 years to our life.  Life in Dallas is - simply put - Easy. 

We received scans today and a report from Dr S.  The larger twin is up to 2167g (4.8 lbs) and the smaller one 1974g (4.4 lbs).  No signs of labor and we are 34.5 weeks.  We arrive in Delhi on Sept 7th - that is about a week and a half from now.  I fly home from the last leg of my trip tomorrow and will be home all next week in the event we get a call and need to leave for India earlier than planned.  I can't wait to meet these kids!!!!

Terry (and Steve)

Ducks & Frogs (with a turtle thrown in here and there...)

The nursery is nearing completion!  It is all about ducks and frogs - yellow and green - gender neutral.

The stuffed animal on the outside of the crib is called a 'Sleep Sheep' - there is one  on each crib that attaches with velcro.  They were a gift at our shower and they are so cool!  They make four different noises - that sound like mom's womb - to help them sleep, sleep, sleep - yeah, right!?  I can dream, right?

This room in our new house is by far the brightest - it gets so much sun.  So, we had these 'blackout' shades made that take out 95% of the daylight.  They lower from the top down which is nice because the little bit of sun that we do get, is filtered thru the valance.

The only missing element is the glider/rocker chair - it is on order and should be here within another month or so.

Got scans and updates from Dr S - at 32 weeks, both babies are just under 4lbs (1.8kg) and our surrogate is well.  The doc says that she believes our surro should make it to 36 weeks which is great news.  This makes sense because we have had such an (touch wood as Dr S says) uneventful pregnancy thus far.  I hope she is right.  So, based on that piece of information, I bit the bullet and booked our flights.  We leave on Sunday, September 5 with a 24 hour stop-over in Amsterdam (we used frequent flier miles for the tickets and this is what we got for free, we'll have a nice dinner and enjoy the cool weather there!) - we arrive in Delhi late evening on September 7th - 36 weeks to the day.  We are still working on our housing - Lotus is booked but we are working with Shilpi on some other options and will have that nailed down shortly.

Starting to pack the babies' bag(s) for our trip!!!  We leave in JUST OVER 3 WEEKS!  OMG.  This is really, really happening.

Thinking of Jojo over there in Delhi - can't wait for their news!!!!!

T&S

Note to Self...

Do not attempt any of the following in conjunction with the other...
1.  Move to Dallas in the heat of summer (it is 108 degrees today).
2.  Renovate one home while selling another, in two different cities.
3.  Move into a home that is still under renovation and do much of the renovation yourself to save money.
4.  Do any of the above while 30 weeks pregnant with twins that could arrive any day!!!!

Have you ever heard of biting off more than you can chew???  Ugh.  The past six weeks have been a whirlwind.  Decide to move cross country, buy a home, put another home on the market, begin renovations and move!  Ready, set, go!  I have not had a spare moment for anything - no blogging, no reading of blogs, nothing.  I miss my leisurely walks in the morning with Steve and the dogs...and the sense of organization and comfort in knowing exactly where to find a pair of underwear or a spoon.

All that said, I felt I had to get a quick post out and catch up on all our surrogate buddies' news - so I am doing just that.  Status report.
1.  31 Weeks tomorrow and all is well.
2.  Home renovations in Dallas are 80% complete - nursery is missing cribs, but they are en route.  Minor detail.
3.  Home in LA is not moving - market is worse than we thought - have reduced the price 3x.
4.  Baby shower in LA was touching, emotional and fruitful!
5.  Having my parents nearby is priceless (my dad is an electrician so he has come in quite handy).
6.  Dallas is HOT in summer.
7.  Dallas is REALLY HOT in summer.
8.  Living on McDonald's and pizza buffets and skipping the gym is only fun for so long.
9.  Developing love handles is not fun at all.
10.  I love my life :)

Before and after pics of the kitchen in Dallas - it was tragic before and very cool now!  It is not 100%, but it is getting there...

Before

And After

And the baby shower hosted by my friends Jim and Kathleen

This was half chocolate and half white cream with fresh strawberries inside!

Us with our hosts (Jim and Kathleen - remember Kathleen from the Taj Mahal?)  She is still bitter that we left LA with 'her babies' - Auntie Kathleen will just have to visit Dallas often!

We got SO MUCH STUFF!

Here's to praying for a few more weeks gestation!  37 weeks, full term is September 14.  Would be a blessing if we made it till then, but we know it will likely be sooner.  I check my phone every morning to see if there is anything from Dr S...

Sorry for being so out of touch and looking forward to keeping up with everyone's news more closely going forward.