Million Dollar Family

Since we found out we are having a boy, I've had a few people make the comment that we now have the " "Million Dollar Family" or the "Millionaire's Family". I'd never heard that expression before for the "perfect" boy-girl combination. A google search informed me that it goes back to the time when it was important to have a male heir to carry on the family name and assets as well as have a daughter to marry off to a moneyed and influential gentleman, thus increasing your chances of maintaining or gaining power for generations to come.

When I first heard it, my mind immediately jumped to the cost of fertility treatments and how much people with infertility have to spend to have children either though fertility treatments, adoption or both. I guess it's all in your interpretation. I also thought about the extra debt load we will be carrying on our mortgage for the next 10-15 years so that we could even have a fair chance at IVF for one baby. To have a second one thrown in for free is such an incredible bonus.

We certainly feel incredibly lucky -more like a lottery winners of two amazing and totally priceless prizes in the game of life than just ordinary millionaires.

One Year Old

Wow time sure flies! My little girl is one year old already! With the holidays and returning to work last week it seems like I haven't been able to find the time to sit down and blog. I figured since "Bub" (Anika's nickname for her brother to be) woke up early this morning and decided to start the day with some kickboxing that I might as well get out of bed and get my day started too.

So yes, the holidays were filled with lots of family time, great food and lots of sorting through girls clothing to hand down. Anika called Christmas "HoHoHo" and kept asking for a few days if it was going to happen again. She is in love with bananas at the moment and her eyes just lit up when Santa left her a big banana in her stocking. She thought her ride on car was pretty cool too.

Jan 2nd I returned to work full time and DH became a stay/work at home daddy. It's going really well so far, and I'm sure it's easier knowing it's only for a few short months. Anika seems to be adapting to it. I find it hard only seeing her for a short time in the morning and late afternoon before she's off to bed again, but she's always very happy to see me when I am home.

Jan 6th was her first birthday. We celebrated with an open house style party where friends could stop by throughout the day when it worked for them. This ended up being a real hit because everyone has different nap schedules, and our house was always filled with a few people but never an overwhelming number. We also asked for no presents, and although a few people couldn't help themselves and brought things anyway, I think it worked better not to have a whole pile of gifts to open. She did get to open her special birthday gift -the baby doll I found a month back. My sister helped to fashion some boy clothes for him. Anika seems to really like him so far. She's named him "baby boy" and wanted him to join her in her bath and crib the very first night. She likes putting him to sleep with a little blanket, and pretending to feed him.