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Despite the lack of insurance coverage for IF that we have, I never really thought about how lucky we are to live in a country that allows such a wide range of fertility options.  Getting our official diagnosis, azoospermia, was SO devastating.  I can't even imagine how much more devastating it would have been if we lived somewhere with no options.  We were (and still are!) lucky-- we had options.   I read this article  recently that discusses some of the issues people face when they leave their country to pursue treatments they can't get in their own country.  If we lived in Italy, we couldn't have created our beautiful little girl.  Surrogates are illegal in France.  " A Turkish woman who becomes inseminated abroad with donor sperm faces three years in prison."   Can you even imagine?  Not surprisingly, people are coming to the US for fertility treatments that are illegal in their country.  Then, many of them face issues trying to get their kids recognized as ...

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday! One of my favorite things to do is make delicious things-- whether they be food or drink.  To help motivate me to try new recipes, to find new recipes from you, and to help encourage me to post, I thought I would start a weekly recipe feature.  Please join in and post a recipe on your blog.  Then link back to it below, using the handy Mr. Linky feature at the bottom, so others can find your recipe.  Also, please put a link to this post in yours, so others can participate too!  The more the merrier!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I was walking down the alcohol aisle at the grocery store, I spotted caramel vodka for $8.99, so I decided to splurge, as I LOVE caramel.  I also picked up a small jar of caramel, thinking it would be a nice addition to a drink.  When I got home, I started looking up recipes for caramel martinis, but couldn't find one that worked with the ingredien...

For so much of my life, I've felt like an observer.  I've often felt like I was on the outside, just watching others have fun and live life.  I think that is part of where my social awkwardness comes from-- I've always felt like an outsider.  When we started having fertility troubles, this feeling intensified, as so many of my friends landed in the "if he looks at me funny on a day I was 45 minutes late taking my pill, I get pregnant" camp.  I think we all know how fun that is.   I thought once I had a baby, I'd feel more "in the club."  I did finally make it to the other side, the promise land, to Oz.  I'm finding myself, however, feeling like an impostor.  Like I cheated the system to get here, and let's be honest here-- I did.  If it were 20 years ago, we'd be one of those couples who everyone feels sorry for, because they can't have kids despite desperately trying.  When moms I'm friends with talk about their accident 3rd+ b...

Crunchy?  Soggy when wet?  Frugal? I've been getting some sort of off-handed remarks from people recently about being "crunchy" regarding some of my parenting choices.  My MIL included.  I know hippies, and I'm not one.  I do try to educate myself of different options, but a lot of the decisions I make are because I'm cheap!  Seriously.  Cloth diapering-- cheaper.  We use a combination of Thirsties covers with prefolds/fitteds and Bum Genius one size all-in-ones.  I wash them myself and put them in the dryer or hang them out, depending on my mood.  Since it's like 3,241 degrees here during the day in the summer (ok, I exaggerate.  It's only 115-120 on average) the diapers dry really quickly outside, so I can save the 'lectric bill budget for the a/c.  Breastfeeding-- free.  Well okay, there was the lactation consultant that came to the house twice.  Insurance covered 80%, so I paid less than $60.  And, ...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of J's favorite books.  She LOVES it and brings it to us somewhere between 3 and 4,597 times a day to read to her.  Because of this, it became a natural theme for her first birthday party.  Yes, the party was really for me, and I knew that with everything is did to prepare for it.  It was so fun to have such an easy theme to base the party around.  Most of my ideas came from the internet and pintrest was a big help!  Here's what we did: The food table.  We used the story to dictate our menu, and printed out little signs with text from the book.  "On Monday, he ate through one apple."  I didn't really get a good picture of the food table or any of my signs.  The cupcakes!  We covered a foam cylinder in red felt to make the head.  Then, we just frosted yellow cupcakes in green frosting and arranged in this shape!  Here is the room that had the cupcakes.  You can see the caterpillar I m...