photo bomb...because i can

yup...because i can and i'm the mama i am officially hijacking this post to shamelessly show pictures of my sweet boys

a glimpse into his future?

too too cute

he learned the "push them up your nose" bit from his mama

basketball!!!

i got this!

my turn!

playing glasses with briana

my sweet little

trying to climb the tree...oy

ready...set...GO

flying with my uncle Jason

trying to be like my cousin Kayle

i just can't get enough of this little boy

trying to look up at Kayle's hot air balloon - this resulted in him falling over

the closest thing we have to a family photo this season...

so there you have it...
the family that i love and adore with every ounce of my being

i could not be happier...and what was truly amazing was spending christmas with angela's family this year i actually felt like a part of the family...with jason and the kids there and angela's aunt referring to me as a "cousin by marriage" when Kayle asked how i was related...it all really fell in to place. it might have take 7.5 years (really has it been that long?!) but feeling like a part of the family for the first time in that 7.5 years was worth the wait...

hope you enjoyed the pictures of the two (well 3 including angela) best things that ever happened to me!

family pride

saturday was Durham Pride - the one day each year that we stand outside regardless of the weather (this y ear it was rainy and cold) and we stand with hundreds of other people and celebrate our families
the boys had a good time even with the rain and the cold - caleb waved at everyone, jared was a little tentative but mostly because of the weather

for years angela and i have been going to pride dreaming of bringing our kids to pride one day...this year we actually got to share if with them...last year they were just a bit too young. this year they joined us in celebrating the families of others and their own family.

family pride!

even with the protesters and their megaphones we will continue to bring the boys out for pride each year. we will teach them what pride is about. and even as they get older and are able to understand and ask questions we will teach them about them about those who have gone before us fighting for equality. when they are older and able to understand we will also teach them about those who have gone before us and given their lives fighting for our equality and freedom.
while we hope to show them every day that they are no different than anyone else, pride is a day that we show them how proud we are of our difference. we come together as a community and celebrate!

i can't count the number of people who waved and clapped and smile and shouted at the two beautiful babies.
our family is nothing to be ashamed of and we will spend every day of the boys' lives teaching them that! even when people they love can't stand behind them or their family, they will know that they are two of the luckiest, most loved boys in the world. they will know that their family fought to bring them into this world and will keep fighting for our equality as a family.

the US Supreme Court opened session today - 2 things on the docket are the Defense of Marriage Act and California Proposition 8...i can only hope that in the next 12 months these two things will be resolved in our favor and we can move forward towards our family's equality.

i look forward to including the boys as much as possible in the fight for our family's equality!

the one in which we travel north

tonight we begin our first family vacation!
we are traveling to sandy creek, new york to stay with my brother-in-law's parents. it'll be all 4 of us, nina, chris and willa and a whole host of nina and chris' friends...it should be amazing
the boys have never met their cousin and angela has never met her niece!
it's going to be a week of time spent on the lake, hanging out with family, relaxing and just enjoying
while we will miss nc it'll be nice to get a way for a while
this has been a crazy month of work with holes being put in the clinic walls and kids and families requiring way more support than i can provide in a 2 hour session...

we are driving to ny...oh yea did i forget that part? yup...driving the 12 hours up north...leaving around 6pm and burning the midnight oil...translation: driving straight through till ny!
tomorrow morning around 6 or 7 we will be arriving in sandy creek and i am thrilled...
it's been a long time since the boys have played with auntie nin and uncle c!

pictures of the trip to follow!

Sweet sweet willa june

This is willa june
Willa June is Angela and my niece...she was born May 10, 2012 around 10am<br>
She is also our god daughter and she is lovely
When nina went into labor I was at work but my insanely amazing wife had a ticket booked and a bag packed by the time I got home 2.5 hours later
When I walked in to Nina's room at the hospital she was completely flabbergasted that I was there but so happy
It is such a joy to be here and be able to help her with my sweet niece
One nurse commented "you did a lot if research" when I said something about willa and I just laughed and said "no...I just have twins at home!"
I so wish we lived closer so we could be a part of this little girls every day...

This is willa and she is amazing

the one in which we attempt flight

today's the day we all get on an airplane and fly to new york for aunt nin's baby shower and GG's 95th birthday party. oy.

i'm hoping that 2 babies on a plane is not going to be as anxiety provoking once we are in the air as it is with my feet planted firmly on the ground. main concern is the ears popping and while nursing is supposed to help with that there are 2 major hurdles.
1) the boys don't really nurse on command any more - they basically nurse when THEY decide it's time
2) there are 2 of them and only 1 mommy

currently mommy is at the doctor and caleb is telling me it's time to eat...ahh the joys of not being able to feed the poor kid...he's quietly fussing in his crib right now after a not so successful nap - i'm hoping that the water he just jugged might confuse him long enough to wait for mommy to get home

on another note today is also the boys 11 month birthday...is just over 30 days we will have ONE YEAR OLDS! i cannot believe it's been a year. i'm slowly starting to work on a full write up of the boys' "birth story" from my perspective. as the non-biological parent it has been a whirlwind of a year trying to figure out the kinks and how we all work and fit together. we have not yet gotten all the legal paper work written up but do have documents hand written and signed my A simply stating that in the event of her not being present or incapable of making decisions that all those things fall to me...at least there's that!

so off we go in to the air!

i will post pictures as the weekend progresses

signs of spring

it's official...we have a garden AND grass! i think it's something of a miracle but it's also awesome
not sure how much of the grass in the front will stick around - tyler has already dug up all the old holes that i filled in but hey, he's a happy, happy dog!

GRASS!!!

grass in the boys' play area

beets (i think)

vegetables of some kind...didn't tag these

we had seder at my mom's house both first and second night of passover...the boys didn't really last much of seder but were the life of the party. it was so nice to spend time with family and get to see aunt nina! the last time nina saw the boys was thanksgiving and they still got big smiles on their faces when they saw her! we can't wait to see her again in NYC (well brooklyn) in a few weeks.

we also spent easter with angela's parents and minus the leaving the boys in the nursery anxiety the time spent with family was nice. we spent time hanging out at the house (once all the company left) just sitting out on the lawn watching the boys crawl around on and off of the blanket. jared tackled big grandpa after he decided to lay down - it was quite possibly the first day i didn't feel like an outsider and it felt like we were all part of the same family

this week we celebrated the arrival Edan William Jedediah Derby! he is the son of my cousins ari and laurel and he is a lovely little man. he decided to make his entrance right before passover and has been dually named "matzoh ball derby"

i am so excited to see what the years bring for this family and for ours and hope that no matter where we all end up we end up close by. i never knew my cousin until i was 16 and even then really knew nothing about her...then there was this year, a time when her wife was in israel and i had the opportunity to get to know my cousin more than i have ever known her. it was awesome! we spent hours talking and drinking coffee and just hanging out. she taught me how to make matzoh balls and i in turn taught her to make chicken soup from scratch...i have been truly blessed to get to know her and get to know laurel since her return from israel.

after all that has happened this spring you'd think it was over but it is just beginning. we are now in the throws of planning the boys' birthday party and a trip to brooklyn (and first airplane trip) and then another trip once my little niece is born and the boys' 1 year photos and and and...there is so much to do and so little time and i look forward to every minute (even if it means being exhausted!)