The Liebster Award and to all the blogs I've loved before...

Oh golly, I'm not so good with expressing thanks to those who appreciate me ("I'm not worth, I'm not worthy"),...but I am so very honored that our blog was chosen by fellow bloggers for a Liebster Award.  Special heartfelt thanks to Darshana in Canada who just gave birth as a surrogate to a beautiful girl, Hazel; to Mike and Tony, who I have loved following and getting to know their beautiful girl, Zoey; and to Cinderella and Prince Charming who are trying to conceive as we speak (good luck girls!)!...you all made my day for nominating our crazy blog for an award and I have to apologize for my tardiness in posting about this -- I've been busy trying to pull a baby registry together in our second trimester...I'm seriously overwhelmed!  The truly wonderful thing about these people and others that comment on blogs, write their own blogs, follow them, and are a resource for others, is that I consider this scattering of folks from around the world my friends.  And I know it sounds crazy but one day I hope to meet you all because your support has kept our dream alive. I can't thank you enough for encouraging me when I've been down and out and ready to give up, and I hope to be the same inspiration to others going through infertility as you have been to me.  Big, big hugs to you all!

A little background on the Liebster Award, if you haven't come across it already (which is doubtful :-)):

Liebster is a German word that means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’, but can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea of the award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.  The Award comes with a few rules. You’re supposed to:

• Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them
• Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
• Post the award on your blog
• Bask in the love from the most supportive people in the blogosphere – other bloggers
• Hope your recipients pass the award to their 5 favorite blogs to keep the love flowing

My picks for my favorite blogs are (this was hard, believe me, as evident by the fact that I've listed more than five)...


Mike and Mike of Spawn of Mike and Mike.  I happened upon this fascinating, hilarious and informative blog when I was searching for other IPs who had been to India, specifically to the clinic we were using in Mumbai.  I was not looking for a blog per se, nor was I planning on writing one for almost three years, but that is what happened -- and as psychotic as it sounds after all the heartache and pain we've gone through since then, finding their blog was one of the best things that ever happened.  It allowed me to create what we have today which is a network of friends who support one another.  I remember reading their blog from beginning to end, at work!  It took me hours and I got nothing done that day because I was riveted by their journey and by Mike's biting humor, which cracked me up with every post.  When I started this blog I wanted to be as funny as Mike but I think I consistently fall short. To boot, Mike is from Hawaii...which totally ROCKS!  And their two daughters Rose and Eva are just as cute as ever.


Terry and Steve of Christmas Eve Boys.  Another blog that I have been reading the entire time we have been trying to have a baby.  I am really indebted to these first two blogs and their writers, and I even wrote about my gratitude in a July 2009 post called Baby Hiccup. Terry and Steve had several obstacles in the beginning before their two beautiful boys Jag and Ajay came in to their lives in September 2010, and their experience and ultimate success was one of the things that fueled me to continue pursuing fatherhood.  Thanks Terry, you've become a good blog friend and your words of encouragement have made a huge difference!


Sean of Bollywood to Hollywood Road to Parenthood.  I'm just super glad that Sean is back after a long break from the blog world...he's had some rough spots in his journey but he's back with a vengeance and is 14 weeks pregnant with a surrogate in India. 


Edward of Faith to Vishwas.  Edward has been another super amazing encouraging force as we were trying to conceive.  His comments were always calm and positive.  He is also very smart and funny and his writing reflects this.  I don't know how he finds the time to actually write a blog since he and his partner have triplets, Vivian, Aria and Sidney, born in India in 2010.  He must get no sleep!

Toban of North Star. The love that Toban has for his son, Orion, is awesome.  His posts are short and so sweet and special...I feel the love from Canada, Toban!  Like many of these other blogs, trying to get pregnant wasn't always easy...and Toban took his lumps and kept on trudging until Orion came in to his life last year via a surrogate in India.

Jason and Adrian of Stalking the Stork.  Finally, Jason and Adrian are two great guys that we met in Los Angeles last year after running in to each other on our blogs.  They are expecting twins right behind us with a surrogate in India.  Jason and I share the same concern of being older parents, amongst other things...and he also went to school in Honolulu years and years ago.  If his parents didn't move to the "mainland" we most likely would have attended Punahou School together (I must add, however, that he would have been a couple grades ahead of me).  Jason is a great writer, very astute, and has a wonderful sense of humor about becoming a parent.


Ok, so the funny thing is that I had planned to just list my favorite blogs, but now this sounds like a love letter to all the blogs I've loved before.  Sorry, I digress.


Now I've just gots to go...only 118 days left to shop for our little girl!!!