Working It Out in March

We found a place to rent and bought a lot in Poipu at the beginning of March.  Both of these came together all within a matter of days.  We've been looking at real estate for 18 months, and finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a lot in Poipu--our dream location.  We've been looking for a place to rent since basically October, and when a new listing popped up, you know I was all over it within minutes.  It's not just my imagination--the rental market here is competitive.  I had my application in along with 15 other families on the day it was posted, and we were lucky enough to get one of the very first viewings.  We took it immediately and committed to the lot on the same day.  What a relief!

This was all finalized one day before heading to Oahu for the IVF.  I've been on medications since January, so although the hormones definitely affected my daily life (aka made me crazy), the process was really not as long or nearly as intense as it was with Kate since it was a frozen embryo transfer only.  We went to Oahu that morning, out to breakfast in Honolulu, then to the hospital.  Everything went smoothly, and we checked in at the Hyatt for the start of bed rest.  Our good friend Matt lined up our accommodations and we were hooked up with the penthouse.  We felt like celebrities!

If there is anything I want to remember from this time, it is how helpful and kind our friends were to us.  They cooked us food, watched my kids for days and days while we were in Oahu for appointments, the transfer, and then while I was on bed rest, picked up Zachary from school, and made it a very good experience.  It was that way with the IVF for Kate, too.  Living thousands of miles away from family at a time like this is not easy, but they made it smooth and made us and our kids feel so loved.

We waited a week for the blood test, and towards the end, we were both convinced it worked.  It was hard to get the phone call that it did not.  Another strike for 2013!  A month later, I can confidently say we are fine and not as sad.  We are so, so grateful for the two beautiful kids we already have--we both feel like they are miracle babies.  We are also so appreciative of the support, phone calls, notes, and even packages that were sent--we felt so much love from everyone.  We will try again in hopefully another year or so.

Here are the kids in March.  They were busting with excitement for Easter, and we did mini Easter egg hunts several times (I know that is ridiculous). 

We spent 12 weeks living in Shaun's house, and I would say about 6 of those weeks were spent packing or unpacking boxes.  The kids were awesome--they read to each other, rode bikes in the courtyard, and entertained themselves for hours while we prepped for the move.

 (Have you ever seen the Plasma Car?  Best toy ever.  Go buy it.)

 We went to the pool basically every day before our move.  This will sound snobby, but we've had pool access for all but 8 months of our nearly 12 years together.  The new house has no pool.  I know, I know: cry me a river, but we do live somewhere that swimming daily is not too much of a stretch.  Now we have to rely on other people's pool key generosity. 

 We have lost dozens of pool toys over the years, but this green floatie lives on.

Love this shot:

 Oh yeah, it was freezing in March...

 ...but here is proof that I love my kids (the water is COLD):