The Beard

I haven’t blogged because I’ve been waiting for pictures.  However, my husband is not very good at getting pictures off of the camera onto the computer.

If you have been around us the last few months you noticed the monstrosity growing on my husband’s face.  Around Christmas Justin decided he wanted to have a “Man Beard” knowing full well his dear wife HATES massive facial hair.  A little is tolerable and on Justin having a little is a necessity for his lack of chin definition, but I hate coarse face hair poking me in the face all the time.

Hate it.  Did I say that yet? Because I hate it.

I wasn’t the only one who was against creepy locks expanding. In fact nearly every female was on my side and nearly ever male was on his side.

Many husbands/boyfriend commented on how they enjoyed his “Man Beard”.  I stand firm on my assumption that they loved it so much since their wives/girlfriends wouldn’t let them have one and, unlike my husband, they took the opinion of their significant other to heart.  One of our friends decided about half way through Justin’s Man Beard growing process to begin one of his own (Sorry Megan).

There was a point where Justin and I had a heart to heart.  Where he informed me of what a horrible wife I was being for giving him such a hard time in front of people.  So I apologized and told him I had one more thing to say and then I’d drop it.

SO I told him.  I hated his face hair.  I found it unattractive – that’s right friends I told my husband the blob of hair hiding his dimples made me find him very unattractive.  I asked, “Isn’t it important that a wife finds her husband attractive?” his response? “Well then you’re just shallow.  I told him how little I enjoyed kissing him since it was like kissing…well lets just say it was an unpleasant experience.

And still the beard grew.  Somewhere along the road he added a mustache since I already found the beard horrid he might as well add a mustache…can’t make the horrible any more horrible.

Then, 4 weeks ago today I came home to a handsome man once more.  The dimples I married him for greeted me and I couldn’t help but sort of be giddy with excitement.  My husband was a sexy man once more and he was smothered in kisses.  Like seriously it was like flashback to first being married to the man and I couldn’t help but smother him in affections.

 

Granted, it did take me (and the kids) a few days to adjust to a husband/dad that you could actually see, but all is well again in the Davis home.  Not gonna lie, for awhile I feared the end of our marriage (FYI that is a joke – I am seriously not that shallow).

My Asian Baby

I always said that I’d love to have an Asian baby.  They are so stinking adorable!  Obviously that didn’t happen.  However, it’s now a possibility.

I mentioned earlier the idea of becoming a surrogate.  I submitted my application and thought; we’ll just see what happens.  I figured it would take months or even a year or so to actually be caring a baby.  Well things started moving.

A month ago it began.  Paperwork, emails, signatures, interviews, appointments, etc. I am not technically a surrogate since I have not actually been approved by the agency.  I still need a medical and psychological screening.  But assuming I’m not unhealthy or insane I’ll be approved.

Usually that means the waiting game begins.  Waiting for the intended parents (IP) to read my profile and decide they like me enough to put their baby in me.  However, that’s not exactly how it is working.

On Friday I received an email asking me if I wanted to meet the IP.  They are from China and will only be here a few days.  They wanted to meet on Sunday, but with Church and a birthday party we couldn’t do it so we assumed that meant these IP were not meant for us.

Then they suggested we meet tonight (Monday night).  We agreed.

Then I received an email this morning asking if instead, they could meet me on my lunch break.  I agreed.

They are excited and easy going.  They want me to carry their baby(ies).  They want me to carry their baby(ies) in as little as a month.  So assuming I get approved by the agency, in a month I could be pregnant.

In a month I could be pregnant with twins.

In a month I could be pregnant with Asian babies.

In a month I could be beginning this journey of surrogacy.

I’m excited.  I’m nervous.  I’m happy.  I’m scared.  I think I’m everything all at once.

Please pray for me (us).  That the rest of the screening goes well and the agency approves me.  Also that if things do not work out with this couple that another couple will find us.  And that once this actually begins that I remain healthy and strong.

Green Ball of Goodness

Artichokes are one of those things that look funny so the idea of getting a kid to eat one seems unrealistic.  Yet somehow my Aunt Jeanine convinced me to eat one with her as a young child.

I actually vividly remember sitting at my grandmother’s dining room table with my aunt peeling off one of those green leaves to consume.

I fell in love, well as much love as you can fall into with food item that is.  My love of these delicious plants has not wavered over the years and my husband often surprises me by saying “I bought an artichoke for you today at the store”.  If you didn’t know better you’d think he told me he just bought me a shiney new necklace.  It brings me much joy.

All that said, I can barely contain my excitement to find one of my children enjoys them nearly as much as I do.  

So last night as an artichoke was steaming away with garlic rich water I whispered in Jordan’s ear “while Taylor and Elijah are taking a shower we’re going to stay out here and eat an artichoke”.  She squealed with delight.  She took a super quick shower and kept checking on me while she was getting dressed to ensure I had not eaten it all yet, “Mommy, don’t eat it all, wait for me.”

And then we sat.  And dipped.  And Ate. And laughed. And enjoyed an artichoke together, just the two of us and life was happy.  Until it was gone, then life was a little sad.

Oh So Blue

I think I mentioned to you before that Taylor has begun adding “No Seriously” to about everything she says.  And like any parent knows something that starts of cute quickly becomes annoying.

That being said “No Seriously” is not really the point of my story today, just a reminder since what I am about to tell you will contain those words.

::Taylor comes into my room with the look of a girl on a mission”

Taylor: Mom, I need to wear blue today

Me: ok…

Taylor: No seriously, I need to wear blue

Me: That’s fine so wear blue

Taylor: I’m serious!

Me: So find something blue

Taylor: And I need money

Me: Why?

Taylor: My teacher said I need money to be in the Wish Club

Me: Like you’re going to make wish?

Taylor: NO! To be in the wish club

Me: Are you going to a wishing well or something? Do you need dollars or coins?

Taylor: Dollars

Me: For the wish club?

Taylor: No, coins

Me: How many?

Taylor: Um, I don’t know…

Me: Well I’m not giving you money if you can’t tell me how much and what its for

Taylor: I told you, the Wish Club! I’m serious!

Me: what is the wish club?

Taylor: I don’t know.

Anyway, after this conversation I found out Make A Wish Foundation has been at her school and she is supposed to bring a dollar to help support them.  So Taylor and I had a lengthy conversation about what Make A Wish Foundation is and how her money would help sick kids.  I gave her the option of taking a dollar from her chore money to help a friend too.

That conversation was interesting and included conversations about how children can die, sickle cell anemia, DNA, and cancer.  So…yeah that was interesting.

Jordan and Her Pennies

I’ve described Jordan before as the girl wearing the most sparkly of all princess dress playing in a muddle puddle.  

She loves all the girly stuff from her favorite color being pink to shoes with glitter and lights.

She loves to find my perfume and use the entire bottle on herself.

She loves painted fingernails and if I don’t do it she find the nail polish herself and paints the nail along with half of her toe or finger.

She also loves to play rough and get dirty and sweaty.

She has such a contagious spirit and so full of personality.

Most mornings while I sit and work from home she will sit next to me and just watch me work occasionally whispering something to me.  This morning she had an agenda:

J: Mom, you’re the best

Me: Thank you

J: I think you are beautiful

Me: Thank you

J: So you can take me to gymnastics again now

Me: No baby, we don’t have enough money

J: its ok you can take all the money from my envelopes (her chore money)

Me: Baby, that still isn’t enough money

J: But I have dollars in there!

Me; You need $60

J: Is that more the $100?

Me: No

J: Then I think I have enough dollars

Me: No you don’t

J: How about when daddy’s not looking you take his pennies from his car and then when he looks there tomorrow he won’t know where they goed

Me: That’s stealing, that’s not ok

J: Its ok I always take his pennies ::runs to other room and comes back with an Easter Egg::

J: See ::cracks open Easter Egg and about $2 in change drops out::

Happy Birthday To Me!

The Davis’ has a happy and busy weekend.  It was the weekend of birthday celebration for me which really just followed almost an entire week of birthday things too:

Monday: Delicious Baked goods from Stephanie (that's a Marscepone Cheese Tart MMM)

Tuesday: All Day Seminar with Lunch at Red Robin (That's a BluCheese Burger)

Wednesday: All Day Relaxation and Bible Study

Thursday: Birthday Lunch with the Girls (I have THE BEST friends)

Then on Friday night with a few friends coming over to play a game.  What did I find out this eve?

1. A 5 player game can quickly turn into a game of 5 players with 2 spectators.
2. Cady is pronounced Kay-Dee and not Cad-Dee which drastically changes your thoughts on the gender behind the name
3. Sometimes there is just no hope for the Heroes
4. Brad would be a great person to gamble since he can roll the least likely roll about 80% of the time.  Good for Vegas bad for Overloarding

On Saturday my Daddy came over to take me on a Costco run.  As soon as we got back we headed to Joe’s Crab Shack for a delicious lunch with friends followed by an embarrassing moment of hula and birthday music.  We then headed back to our place for some games (round 1) and games (round 2).  What did I find out this day?

1. Crab is Delicious, but when you are one of the few people out of 20 that orders it you find yourself still eating while everyone just watches with an empty plate in front of them
2. Kids will always find a way to get themselves as messy as possible
3. Even with 6 kids in the house the adults can manage to get a few good games and conversation in
4. It’s hard to find an impromptu nail salon that you can trust (FYI we did not find one)
5. I enjoy making people happy more then entertaining myself (seriously)
6. We (Phil, Megan, Justin, and I) just need to start a campaign already

Then there was Sunday.  No worship team rehearsal for us so we didn’t have to be at church until 9! That’s an extra hour of sleep theoretically which didn’t happen, but in theory sounds great.  We went to Sunday School then ditched the main service to meet the Key’s at Disneyland.  We left around 4 and spoiled ourselves with biegnets, snow cones, and spicy awesomeness.  What did I find out this day?

1. If you FINALLY remember to put sun block on your kids AND yourself for a change – don’t forget your back or you’ll end up with a random strip of burnt.
2. You can go to Disneyland fully prepared to spend money and spend nothing or go prepared to spend nothing (or very little) and end up spending a ton of money.  Note: 1 of those puts you in a very good mood and the other puts you in a rather bad mood
3. The rapids ride version of 42 inches is different then all other 42 inch rides at Disneyland
4. If there are 4 adults and 6 kids and 2 of the adults leave to go on a ride, the remaining 2 adults get asked if they are a married Mormon couple.
5. Also in the above scenario at least 1 of the 6 children is lost at any given moment…and it was usually Jordan (surprised? Of course not)
6. Leaving early because of a tired child is actually a blessing in disguise
7. Stopping for biegnets after a day in the sun is ALWAYS a good idea
8. Stopping a Mexican man with a Cart of spicy yummyness is always a BAD idea.  Don’t let the taste of delicious mask the fact that you will probably be vomiting up that deliciousness several hours later and it burns much more coming back up then going down.
9. Going to bed at 9PM with your kids because of the above mentioned scenario does not make you any less tired at 6 AM because you just spent the day walking around Disneyland 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Just a Boy and a Girl

9 years ago I woke up and got ready for work.

I walked by my parents and sister as I left with a simple good bye.  It seemed like any other day, but it wasn't.

 I got to work and what was my job for the day? Helping several kids celebrate their birthday as their party host.  I spent the entire day singing Happy Birthday, serving Birthday cake, watching them open their Birthday gifts, and watching all of the Birthday smiles.

On my breaks I would check my phone for texts or voice mail looking for something to indicate this special day.  I had nothing, it seemed like any other day, but it wasn't.

I got off work and sat in my car as tears filled my eyes.  It was my birthday and nobody had called.  Nobody had texted. Even everyone I saw at work and home treated the day like any other day.

As I cried I got a phone call from my BEST friends in the world, "Us". They hadn't forgotten!

My friend's voice came through the phone, "What street is that theater on in Chino?"

I answered and thought, Sweet we're going to see a movie!

My friend, my best friend, thanked me for the info and hung up.  I wasn't invited.  It seemed like any other day and I accepted that fact and headed back to campus to drown my sorrows in late night TV alone in my dorm room.

As I got to campus I got a phone call.  A call from a boy I was in choir with.  A boy I had only known for a month. Just a boy.

This boy said Happy Birthday and asked how my Birthday was going.  And that boy listened to me cry.

That boy listened to me as I told him about the most lonely birthday I have ever had.  The first Birthday away from home as an "adult" and how miserable I was.

That boy said he was going to make sure this day wasn't just another day, but a special day.  He asked me my favorite place to be and took me there.

There we sat Just that Boy and Just this Girl.  On the breakers at the beach watching the waves crash.  On my Birthday 9 years ago this Girl fell in love with that Boy even though she didn't know it yet.

It became a special day, the most special of all days.

THANK YOU! To everyone who has helped (and will be helping) me make every Birthday since, (including this one) special.  I love you friends.

And in case you were wondering, a little over 2 years later That Boy asked This Girl to marry him while sitting on those same breakers at the beach.