Where to Start?

So as I mentioned before- one of my memory cards is still in Israel, and therefore I cant post some pictures.



DAY 1:



Where to start? OK- Our plane ride to Israel went pretty well. It was a red eye so the girls slept for a good 7 hours.

When we arrived my husband's aunt was the one who was supposed to greet us by the gate- but instead it was my cousin and her husband. She came with balloons. I didn't expect to see her since you know- the girl NEVER returns or answers calls. She actually called me a few times before I flew out- but I never answered her calls- you know to get back at her (I feel very conniving like Alexis from Dynasty). But she managed to find out my flight info and came.



(btw- We received so many monetary gifts from family (for the girls births) that we did not use a dollar of our own money. To top it all off, my father-in-law gave us money to pay for our tickets- so the entire trip was free! Yeahy! What can be better than that?


I found this trip to be very difficult. I guess we're just not used to being with the girls 24 hours a day. It was just really hard. At first, Soleil cried all the time. When she sees an unfamiliar face, she freaks out. But that quickly needed to change- since there were way too many people to meet. And surprisingly, she became much more people friendly.


What was great, was that we had a whole apartment to ourselves. Two bedrooms- one for the girls with two cribs, and one bedroom for us. This was a apt in my husband's uncle's house. His sister and cousin usually share the apt, but cleared out for us. It was great. We arrived to signs on the door welcoming us, gifts on the table, and chocolates everywhere. My husband's family is amazing. They put my family to shame!



That night we went to visit my husband's father (who lives in the same farm- yes farm) and we introduced him to his granddaughters. He's not a warm guy- but he hugged them- which was nice.




Grandpa & The girls


Our first night was hard- the girls refused to sleep. They were awake from 12am-4am. They cried NON-STOP. Soleil's tummy hurt since the girl NEVER poops, so I gave her a suppository, she pooped- and finally went to sleep. (pictures to come- not of poo, but of her crying)


Day 2:

Was Sabbath, so we had breakfast with my husband's family and then headed out to my grandfather's house. My mom had arrived there the same day as us- on a different flight- so she was there and so was most of my family (my mother's 6 siblings and their extended families). Everyone saw the girls and it was pretty bitter-sweet. It was the first time I was at my grandparent's house since my grandmother's passing. Just being there made me sad. She would have been so insanely happy to meet her great-granddaughters.. she so wanted me to get pregnant. My grandfather cried as he held his first great grandchildren and said "Why wasn't she here to see this?". Of course that made me cry.


Great-Grandpa & The girls

The days become somewhat of a haze...

We took the girls to the beach for the first time- which was nice. We went with my husband's 20 year old sister, his cousin and her boyfriend:

The girls didn't seem phased by the beach. Now mind you, I HATE the beach with a passion.

First of all: Having to wear a bathing suit esp now since I am much larger than I used to be. Speaking of which: Everyone in Israel just HAD to comment about my weight gain. They all just seemed so genuinely concerned that I wasn't as thin as I used to be:

"You looked so skinny in the pictures you sent us after you had the babies"- yeah, his aunt said that.

"So you gained 60 pounds and they were preemies?" Umm yeah jerkwad.

"Oh, now I remember you. You came to see me a few days before your wedding- but you were MUCH MUCH thinner" was the comment I received after going to a doctor that I had previously visited in 2005.

"Oh, I didn't recognize you- I'm used to seeing you like this (holds up her index finger as if I were ever a stick)"

"It doesn't matter that you gained weight. You have a beautiful face and that's all that matters"

Now you can just imagine what that did to my self confidence. Not great.

And what kills me- is that people know that I had twins a few months ago! I mean, do you think I am a celebrity- getting my pre preggo body back in shape in a jiffy? It's going to take time people! And your comments don't help. But you cant change a nation of tactless people. Because, lets face it- tact is what 90% of Israeli's lack (and I can say this since I am pretty much Israeli).

I mean, do I really need to explain to them that I had ivf- which blows you up in the first place, then was hospitalized for 6 weeks knowing that my girls might come early- and the bigger they are the better their chances were (which caused me to down daily milk shakes from burger k*ng since my heart burn was so bad I couldn't eat anything solid)... but WHATEV.. I digress...

I also do NOT like sand.

I don't like being hot.

So all these things together make me HATE the beach, but I knew that I needed to take my girls there- so I put my own feelings aside and went. They wore their first bathing suits and it was a nice photo op. The beaches in Israel are BEAUTIFUL.

Me & Soleil

My brother says Soleil looks like Carmen Miranda: My husband's sister & Neve
Daddy & His girls:
So that's all for today- will post more about my trip to come...

BTW- As I had mentioned in a previous post- my blogging BFF Heather sent my girls the cutest onesies ever that read "Do we look identical?"- love it. Anyway, I sent the website (where she purchased it from) a pic of the girls wearing the onesies and they posted it. Check it out. Thanks Heather for making my girls "Stahs"