9/28/07-Day #8 (Part 1)

Hayden playing in the kiddie area near the pool

Big E chose not to get wet in the kiddie area, lol

Doesn't this look like a totally thrilled little guy? :)

The volcano pool at the Polynesian

We spent the morning by the pool area since this was our last full day. The kids had a blast playing and we did too. My Mom and Aunt went shopping around the Magic Kingdom and I shopped around our hotel. I ended up buying the kiddos a monorail train set that was way too big to carry home so the hotel took care of shipping it for me. That was wonderful. I also managed to buy my neice Audrey something along with Jasmine (my friend Natascha's daughter). Now I almost have Christmas shopping done. Yay!

9/28/07-Day #8 (part 2)

After shopping, I took Clayton over to the Grand Floridian for a surprise high tea lunch date. We enjoyed the tranquility of the tea room. The tea and food was yummy!

We met back with the rest of the family and once again made the trek to Epcot via the monorail. This time was particularly special though because we got to sit in the front with the monorail driver. It was so cool to see everything from that prespective. The driver was super friendly and gave us all our co-pilot's licenses.

Hayden playing at Innovations in Epcot

Emerson snoozing through Innovations, lol

After goofing around in Innovations, we headed out to the International Gateway towards the Epcot resorts. I gotta say that they are beautiful but they are severely lacking conveniences. The walk from Epcot stunk and the boat ride wouldn't have been any better. Also, neither the Yacht Club or Beach Club offered a food court with counter service. They did have one counter service restaurant but you had to put your name in for ressies and it had a 30 min. wait. Then there was a counter service place outside by the pool but I really wanted to sit inside. It was way to hot. Ugh. It amazes me that I can name an indoor food court in all the Disney resorts, whether it be a value or a deluxe hotel, but there wasn't one available in these hotels. What a crock.

Anywho, we ended up eating outside because we didn't have time for the indoor restaurant's wait. After that, I led everyone up to the dock for a big surprise. I had booked us an Illuminations cruise on the Breathless II. Now mind you, that isn't an easy thing to come by. There is only one of these speed boats in all of Disney World (Breathless I is out of commission). It is extremely difficult to book and I was lucky to have gotten it. It was a bit pricey but oh so worth it. Our wonderful driver was Aaron and he took us for a tour around the boardwalk and MGM before heading back over to Epcot for the show. He was able to make it go fast a few times and we all loved it. Once we got to Epcot, he parked us underneath the International Gateway bridge and we had front seats to Illuminations. There were 5 other boats (pontoons) around us. We felt like such VIPs to have such a wonderful seat. People above the bridge waved at us. Little did I know that 2 of them were our friends Sandy and Sage, lol.

Emerson and Aunt Judy enjoying our Illuminations cruise

The Breathless II

• a 26 foot long mahogany speedboat
• estimated to be worth at least $100K
• Disney acquired it at cost ($40K) to advertise for Hacker-Craft
• Rhett Butler supposedly owned one just like it (so I heard on the Disney boards)

After retuning to the Poly, we met up with Sage and Sandy for a late night swim in the volcano pool. The kids had a blast and didn't go to bed until midnight.

9/29/07-Day #9

We were pretty tired on this last day and just couldn't wait to get home. Unfortunately, our flight was at 7:45pm so we had the whole day to waste. Clayton and I took the kiddos to the Magic Kingdom to do some last minute shopping but it was just too hot and crowded. We ended up having some ice cream and then we got the heck out of there. We had lunch at Captain Cook's in the Poly and then took Magical Express to the airport. Mom and Judy's flight was leaving from a different terminal so we had to say goodbye quickly as we exited the bus to go to ours. This is when everything got ugly.


For starters, I was exhausted. I couldn't hold my eyes open. We got our boarding passes but couldn't check our luggage just yet because we were more than 4 hours early. We waited 45 min. and then Clayton finally got rid of our bags. Orlando Intl. Airport totally stinks. C had to take our bags over to the scales, get it weighed and then put it onto the conveyer himself. Now mind you, this section was not at the same place that you actually check yourself in so you have to lug it yourself. I have never had to do that crap and it really makes me mad that he had to. I wasn't with him because I watching the kiddos elsewhere so he had to lug all 4 huge bags himself. It turns out that my Mom and Aunt also had to do this in their terminal so it wasn't just a Southwest thing. Ugh. So much for service. :(

We had time to burn so we went to Chili's and got us some grub. The kiddos fueled up and had way too much energy for us to deal with. Oh well, at least they could sleep on the plane.

When we got to our terminal I took a nap on the floor while waiting. Once we were able to get in line to board, we kept hearing the Southwest employee talk about Birmingham/Denver. Now hold up, we were booked for a direct flight. Guess what? They decided to load the Birmingham people on our flight and made us stop over in Alabama. I was ticked. It would be one thing if it were an emergency or their plane broke down but come on. I booked a direct flight and that it what I expected. I will be writing them a nasty note and I will never fly with them again due to this. I did not get what I paid for and they acted like it was no big deal. Well guess what, it is!! I have never had an airline change my itinerary just for fun. What a load of crap. It was bad too because of the horrible turbulence near the ground at both airports so we had to experience way more than we should have due to 2 different take-offs. Sheesh.


Anyhow, we arrived in Denver around midnight and Clayton couldn't locate his keys. It was an absolute nightmare. After digging through everything, we finally found them within the next 15 min.. Thank the Lord! We finally made our way home and passed out shortly thereafter.

Well, I this is the conclusion of the trip report (with the exception of our food reviews which will be posted later this week). I hope that you enjoyed it and if you are planning a vacation to the World anytime soon, feel free to email me with questions or suggestions. We will be heading out that way again (hopefully!) next September and we are already booked for the Polynesian. :)

While you are waiting for my epic long Disney trip report...

here is a cute pic of my burgeoning belly at 6 months. :)

FYI-Those hideous curtains are a part of the decor at the Polynesian, lol.

We are *finally* back!!

I have a ton of things to report and pics to post. Bear with me and I will try to write the epic post tonight and get it all uploaded tomorrow. We had a wonderful stay at the Polynesian and we can't imagine staying anywhere else at Disney World now. I hope that you all had a wonderful week. :)

So sorry for the neglect

I just can't seem to bring myself to do anything lately. All I have been concentrating on is our impending vacation. I don't mean to neglect my blog but I cannot seem to find anything to say other than "6 more days to Disney World", lol. This trip will be over-the-top and there won't be another one like this for a long time. Sure we are planning another trip to the World for next year but it won't be anywhere near as extravagant as this one. I just pray that Ingrid stays away from Florida so that we don't have any bad weather conditions to deal with.

Bounceback Vacation for the Logans!!

Like my newest ticker? If you happen to be staying at a Walt Disney World hotel from 8/31-9/28/2007, you will be lucky enough to receive a bounceback vacation offer to come back in 2008 for free dining. You have to be sure to book the package while you are still checked into your hotel. They will not take ressies with the offer after you have already paid your 2007 tab. No exceptions. You have to pay the $200 down payment at the time that you make the ressie and the vacation has to be set between the dates of 8/20-9/27/2008.

We are definitely going to book again while we are down there this month. I am so excited!! Now I get to go through the heck of figuring out which hotel to book and where all we want to eat again. My Mom and Dad will be going too. Yay!! I hope that I can get more family members to go but we will have to wait and see. :)

Boyish Wonder

I took this photo of Hayden, Emerson and Austin back in NC just before we moved. They were playing in the yard behind Britt's On Main (mine and Tracy's favorite lunch spot). There is a tiny pond that always seemed to spark their curiosity. What I wouldn't give to be there right now. I miss having lunch with my favorite gal pal and her sweet little boy. Hayden misses his best friend also. **sigh**

A step ahead of the game...

I just finished addressing and stamping all of my Christmas cards last night. Yes, you have permission to hate me. :P

Roll out the green carpet

This is our backyard as of today. We have 2 berms (raised areas/hills), a sprinkler system, sod, rocks, 3 boulders (moss stone), a drip system and our fence posts. Yay!! The fence should be done tomorrow and that will be it until the Spring. We are going to have 3 aspens planted around the right corner berm and some tall grasses will be added there as well. There will be several pretty purple sage plants against the back fence. The other berm on the left of the bottom photo will have several plants added into the long part of it but we are sure what just yet. Clayton wants some juniper bushes that may just be the right location. The strange squared off area in the left corner of the top photo is pea gravel. It will be where the playground or the fire pit sits. We will figure that out later I guess. Either way, it will have timbers around the pea gravel to keep it from combining with the rocks.

Hopefully it won't be long until the sod intermixes. Rights now it looks like sod bricks because you can see each individual piece, lol.

**The pic is a bit wonky because I had to take it through a screened window.**

Hayden's First Day of Pre-K

Hayden couldn't wait to go back to school this year. He has an awesome teacher and his classroom is very cool. The bottom pic is his teacher. Sorry it looks funny but I had some technical difficulties and took way too long to get the pic. It ended up focusing on the background rather than him and his teacher so I sharpened it alot so that I could post it here. I will have to take a better one this afternoon when I go back to get him.

A Shout Out

I want to wish my cousin Natalie a happy birthday today. She is now 21 and legal. Hope you are having a wonderful day gal!

20 weeks, 6 days along...

Half-Baked

Last Wednesday, I hit the 20 week mark. I can't believe that I am halfway through this surrogacy. Wow, time sure does fly! My belly is definitely noticeable at this point. I have people congratulate me all the time when I am out and about. They always stop and stare at me like a deer caught in headlights when I proceed to tell them that the baby isn't mine, lol. After explaining that the baby is someone else's genetics and will be going home with his biological parents, people seem fascinated. I get lots of questions and so far no one has freaked out on me. I have heard several horror stories about people getting offended and then accusing the surro as a "baby seller". It's crazy how many people do not understand that the baby can be conceived in a petrie dish using the biological parents' sperm/eggs and then transferred into someone other than the biological mother to grow. My job (besides gestating this sweet little one) has been to educate others on the process of gestational surrogacy and to help them understand that the main goal of this procedure is to help a couple become a family with their own biological child/children. The question that I have been asked alot lately is, "Will you do this again?". So far my answer is yes (barring that I have no labor/delivery complications). If my current IPs want to try for a sibling project, I will be on board. If they don't, then I will refer back to CCRM to see if there are any potential couples in line for a gestational surrogate. We shall see. As long as my hubby continues to support my ventures I will be fine. :)

***I will try to get a new belly pic posted later tonight or tomorrow.***

I also wanted to add to today's post that it is my cousin Rachel's 15th birthday. Happy Birthday gal!!

Patio-Mission:Completed!

I just had to personalize it, lol.


We chose to do rounded corners. I think that it looks better than squared off ones.


The weird hole with the wood pieces over it is one of our basement windows. We will have to get a cover for it so that the kiddos don't fall in (or me for that matter, lol).

When I took these photos, the concrete was still wet. It looks as though it had speckles in it because that was how it began to dry. As of 5pm it is mostly dry and the concrete is white like the stairs.

Day 1-Thursday, August 9th

On this day we began the transformation of our backyard desert. I have the greatest landscaper working with us. He works when he says he is going to (I can't say the same for our concrete guy) and he helped us figure out how to cut costs. We can't afford to do everything that we have planned with him but we will be getting the basics taken care of this year. Next Spring, he will come in and do the shrubbery and trees that we want. I can't wait!

Day 2-Friday, August 10th

Our backyard after being weeded

Day 3-Satuday, August 11th

I have no pic for the day but the trenches for the underground sprinkler were dug.

Day 4-Sunday, August 12th

The underground sprinkler system was put in.

Day 5-Monday, August 13th

A lot of river rock was spread on one side of our house. The concrete guys set up the framing to pour our patio.

Day 6-Tuesday, August 14th

The rebar was put into the patio framework after the dirt was compacted.

Lots of stuff going on

Man, it is amazing to me how much we have got going on around here. I had a consult with a landscaper and concrete guy yesterday. Clayton and I are getting ready to throw down a lot of money all at once and it is about to make us sick to our stomachs, lol. We have to do something about our barren backyard though. It is an overgrown weed patch at this point. I had originally sat down with the landscaper and had all of our plans put down on paper but it turns out that we got in over our heads. The concrete guy costs twice as much as one back home to pour our patio. That really sucks. My uncle (who is a contractor back in NC) said that the quoted price for our patio was high but it may just be due to location. It's kinda like buying bread in one state can be dirt cheap and super expensive in another. Dang it. We did look at another guy but his prices were even higher so we stuck with the first guy. No stamped concrete for us though, sigh. We are going to get a basic concrete patio, underground sprinkler system, sod, river rock (for the boundaries), and a fence. Due to severe sticker shock from the patio, we are going to hold off on doing the play area and decorative plants until next year. The play area will be a 20x24ft. area marked with timbers and filled with smooth tiny pebbles. Considering how close we are to the end of warm weather here in CO, that will be fine. We can wait until next Spring.

I am so excited to say that I got Hayden into an awesome preschool. He will be going to one that is held at the local elementary school for, get this, FREE. Yea, I can't believe it either. After paying tuition for him the past 2 years, this is definitely going to be a treat. The state of CO offers the program and Hayden miraculously got accepted. Yay!! He will go 4 days a week from 12:15-3:15pm. Emerson will be going to a different school since he isn't old enough to go to the same one as Hayden. He has afternoon pre-k also so we will get to sleep in everyday. It can't get any better than that!

I am beginning to pack for our upcoming trip. I know I am insane but I just can't wait. Only 44 more days to go!

Tuckered Out

Poor E was so tired on Sunday that he just passed out in the recliner. I guess that's what happens when we try to make him skip his usual 3 hour afternoon nap, lol.

18 weeks, 3 days

The View

I took this photo from my bedroom window. Aren't the Rockies beautiful?

July 3 Scrappy Boys Layouts

It has been one of THOSE days...

I woke up this morning at 7:45am to the sound of my doorbell ringing. The stupid plumber wasn't supposed to be here until after 8:30am but he decided to show up before the acceptable time of 8am. Ugh. I had no clothes on and I yelled at the the kids (who were already roaming around downstairs) to not answer the door. After yelling it 3 times while I scurried to find some clothes, Hayden opened the dang door anyway. The 2 guys yelled "Hello?" several times before I rather rudely yelled back "Just a minute". After finally making my way down I told them that I was sorry that I wasn't ready for them but that they should not have been here until 8:30am. They simply said that they were a bit early. Early?! Anytime someone shows up at my door unexpectedly before the hour of 8am it is not okay nor is it respectful. Sheesh.

To add more fun to my day, I am eat up with hives. Last night was pure hell for me becauce my face itched so much that I couldn't sleep. I got a shipment of fruits and veggies on Monday that had a mango in it. I grabbed it with a plastic bag over my hands so that I wouldn't have to touch it. Well, stupid me grabbed the rest of the produce out of the box with my bare hands and I forgot to wash them afterward. The oils from the mango skin must have been on the other produce because I broke out like crazy late that evening. I look like I have a 3rd degree burn on my face/neck/chest. It really looks horrible. Naturally, I had a Ryland Homes manager, tax accessor, cable guy and the plumbers all show up at my house during these past 2 days. I look like a burn victim. I had to explain to everyone why I look like this and it is super embarassing. I just want to curl up in my bed for the day and not get out of my jammies. Why won't they just let me have some peace?

My 29th birthday is tomorrow and I am going to take it easy. I may scrap all day or just stay in bed. Either way, I am calling the shots, lol. I NEED a break at this point. I have been with my kids day in and day out since we moved here (June 13th) and I need to get away from them before they drive me to the loony bin. Soooo, I have a facial and haircut scheduled for myself on Saturday at the local Aveda salon in Loveland. I am debating getting a massage also. We shall see. Hopefully my hives will be better by then. If they aren't, I will have to reschedule and God knows how long it will be before they can get me in again. *sigh*

On a happier note, only 51 days until our family vacation! :)

Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend Natascha back in NC!!

The ScrapRoom-August 2007 Kit

Harper Bolick and Emerson chilling at the fire station

Big E

Hayden's 2nd Birthday

My 28th birthday-the scan makes it look a bit crooked but it isn't IRL

Things are cooling down for the Logan household

Our new home did not come with air conditioning and we looked at that as a good thing. A lot of homes here don't have it because the average high temp for our area is 89. 89 is completely doable without a/c. You sleep with your windows open at night because it gets pretty chilly and then you shut them in the morning before it begins to get warm outside. Around 2 or 3pm, it gets hot but it doesn't last long. Fans are all you need to make it through those few hours of heat. Once 6pm rolls around, it begins to cool down and you can start opening up your windows for a breeze. Well, that is how it is supposed to go anyway. We have experienced a nasty heatwave since we got into our house back on the 2nd. We have only had 2 or 3 days where the temps were below 95. Ugh. It really doesn't help that I am 17 weeks pregnant. We are finally getting air conditioning installed tomorrow. Wouldn't you know it, the temps are only going to be mid 80s today and high 80s tomorrow. That figures.

I am really beginning to show now (I will try to post a pic tomorrow). This little guy tosses and tumbles all around. We got the prelim results from the amnio and we know with certainty that he doesn't have Down's. My IPs are positively thrilled. :)

We are now only 57 days out from our family vacation to Florida and everyone is getting excited. My Mom and Aunt will be driving down from High Point, NC and we will be flying in. Their drive will be around 10 hours and our flight will only be 3.5 hours. I am glad to be taking the shorter trip there, lol. Everything was paid for and all of our dining reservations were taken care of back in April. All we have to do now is wait. I did add another fun element to the trip this past week though. I am going to take my Mom and Aunt to have tea time at the Grand Floridian on our free day. I also have another fun thing up my sleeve but I won't divulge that info. on here in case a certain hubby reads this.

***Update***
My Mom and Aunt got an awesome deal to fly to Florida so now they are going to get there in 1.5 hours. Lucky ducks!

Amnio, Grandma Christie, Bon Jovi, etc.

I know I haven't posted in a while but this past week was completely crazy for me. My nerves were shot because of the amnio that was to take place on Thursday. The thought of the procedure has always scared me and I really didn't want to go through with it. Well, my fears have definitely been validated. It sucked. I won't bore you with the details but I won't ever put myself through that trauma again (unless I fail the level II ultrasound or have some bloodwork come back abnormal). I have been so sore the past few days. Anyhow, the ultrasound was perfect and there was no markers for Down's. The baby looked extremely healthy and *HE* is a rowdy little thing (yes, it is a boy!). He moved constantly throughout the ultrasound and the sonographer remarked about how active he is. I didn't need her to tell me that. He is a little tumbler. I have felt movements since 11 weeks and now that he is 16 weeks, I feel him a lot more. I believe that my IPs have an acrobat on their hands, lol.

Grandma Christie watched the kiddos while I went to Denver for the amnio. She also watched them last night while we went to see Bon Jovi at Cheyenne Frontier Days. We took off before dinner and met Steph & Tom at their house. She made a wonderful apple salsa that we ate the heck out of. It was served with cinnamon tortilla chips. Yum! After stuffing ourselves silly, I drove us all to the fairgrounds since I was the DD. We couldn't get a parking spot at all. It was crazy. ALL of the lots were full. We drove through a nearby park and all of the spots were taken also. I just happened to luck out and see 2 girls get into a car and I got to the spot before anyone else. Thank God! We had to walk a long way from that point but at least we made it to the stadium before Bon Jovi started playing. They rocked!! I ended up sitting out the second half though because I was too tired to keep standing. I can't wait until they tour again. Hopefully, they will come to Denver.

Man, it is HOT!

Colorado has been going through record highs since we arrived. Yesterday was 95 and today will be 99. Ugh. The only good thing is that we don't have the nasty humidity that NC does. If we did, I would melt!

Clayton's Dad (Steve) and his wife Sandy came by for a visit on Saturday. Sandy also brought her mom Bea. Steve's mom (Virgie) drove down from Estes Park to join us. We had a great time catching up. It's too bad that Clayton didn't tell me that they were coming until Friday night though. I could have made them a yummy lunch or early dinner if he would have given me the heads up. We ended up going to McDonald's (or Micka Donald's as Hayden says) for lunch. Can you believe that they ran out of catsup?? I have never had to eat my fries without any before. Weird.

My MIL Christie will be coming to stay with us on Thursday. I have an amnio scheduled in Denver that day so she is going to watch the kids for us. Friday night is the Bon Jovi concert at Cheyenne Frontier Days so she will be watching the kiddos for us then also. We will be meeting up with my SIL Stephanie and her man Tom for the big event. I can't wait!

Ahhhh, the convenience of delivery guys

We got our first delivery from the milk man and I am love! It is so wonderful getting 2 gallons of fresh organic milk delivered to my door each week. I cannot stand dragging those huge cartons home from the grocery store so this was a nice change. I also got cream cheese, cheddar cheese, sour cream, eggs, Sara Lee bread and bagels, Starbucks coffee and fresh butter. Soon they will offer cookie dough and we will definitely be getting some of that also. He comes by 2 days a week but I opted for a weekly delivery. The company is called Royal Crest and they are based out of Denver. If you live in the CO area, check them out at: http://www.royalcrestdairy.com/

After finding that I could get my dairy and bread products delivered to my door, I decided to look on the web for other delivery services. When we lived in Atlanta, we had an awesome service called Webvan. They were an online grocery store that I could purchase anything from and then they would deliver it within a 1.5 hour window. The produce was always the best and the service was absolutely awesome. It's too bad that they shut down operations after a year of me being a customer. I don't really understand what happened to them considering that it was an extremely popular service. Anyhow, I was hoping to find something similar in nature here but it's a no-go. Instead, I did find an organic fruit and veggie delivery service from Denver. They deliver weekly or bi-weekly. I chose to get a medium box of mixed fruits and veggies to try out on Monday. Everything is locally grown and completely organic. I can't wait to try them out. If you live in Colorado or in parts of Nebraska or Wyoming, check out their site at: https://denver.doortodoororganics.com/ .

-Steph, they do deliver to Cheyenne, WY.
-Sandy, they do deliver to Sidney, NE.
;)

If only I could find a delivery service for meats and general groceries. I do have Schwan's service for frozen foods but I wish that I could get general stuff through them too. You know, like a can of cream of chicken soup? Oh well, I guess that I can't have it all, lol. It just really stinks to go to a grocery store here considering that they are so far away. My town is incredibly small and it only has a specialty grocery store. If I want to go to civilization, I have to drive about 20-25 minutes away. With 2 kids in tow, I just don't want to.

Finally we are home!

Thank the Lord, we finally made it into our new house. It has been a crazy journey getting here and I never want to go through that heck again. Here's a quick run down of what has been going on in the Logan household since I last posted:

7/2-We finally closed on the house. Yay!!

7/3-We got our furniture delivered.

-I had my first OB appt. today. The appt. was a bit boring but at least everything was okay with the baby.

7/4-Clayton woke up in a lot of pain and got admitted to the ER for kidney stones. He was put on 7 or 8 doses of morphine before he finally felt comfortable enough to be alive. I couldn't stand seeing him in such pain. Poor guy.

7/6-We finally got our very first brand new bedroom suit. Our old one was a hand-me-down that we will be using for guests. And yes gals, we finally upgraded from a full to a king.

-I now have a milk man. How cool is that? He was going door to door giving away 1/2 gallon of milk to all new customers. It is a bit expensive but well worth it. The milk is organic and they recycle the containers for us. They also deliver Starbucks coffee beans, butter, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, Sara Lee breads, bottled water, Eggland's Best eggs, etc. I am in heaven!

7/10-We got our cable back on. I have been going absolutely nutso without the internet.

I would like to announce that my best friend Tracy had her baby girl Addison on 7/7/07. Everyone is doing well and she is incredibly precious! I would give my right arm to be able to hold that sweet baby. Hopefully, I will be able to make a trip back to Asheville in the near future so that I can see her. Congrats to the Ducker household. :)

Well, this is the first time that I have been able to get on the net in forever. I have many things to do but I will be sure to upload some pics soon and I will be posting regularly once again.