Mrs. H & Hayden (5/22)

What is it that makes a kindergarten teacher so special? I still remember mine from back in the day and I will never forget her. She was absolutely awesome and I loved being in her class. Hayden's teacher made me think of her so much. Both were pretty with blonde hair, had fun personalities and the ability to make a kid feel special. I hope Hayden always remembers this woman because she helped start his school career off with a bang. Thanks to her, he is well prepared for the education that lies in front of him. Thanks Mrs. H for all that you have done for Hayden and thanks Mrs. Davis for all that you did for me. :)

Field Day (from 5/22)

I am a little bit behind on my photos. These were taken last Friday at Hayden's field day and it was the last day of school for him. I can't believe that I now have a first grader on my hands. Wow! Time sure does fly.

H cheesing it up for the camera

Emerson spent the morning playing with his preschool buddy, Riley, while Hayden participated in the events. Unfortunately the weather stunk that morning so they were both cold. They had to run around just to keep warm, lol. Both of my kiddos were in swim trunks because the field day theme was "Beach Bash". What a joke! They froze their patooties off but had fun regardless.

New Stuff

Ok, I am not much of a girly girl when it comes to clothes and accessories but I have been rather naughty lately. I just bought the shoes shown above from shoebuy.com. They are so adorable. Because they are made by Born (style-Lucie), they are also somewhat comfortable. I had them in brown also but ultimately decided to send them back to purchase the black Soho Coach bag/wallet below (I got the brown bag and wallet for Mother's Day):

Now I am broke but at least I have a few new goodies. :)

If it ain't one thing it's another, I have strep throat. Any lactation experts out there?

Dang it. I have had a sore throat for the past 3 days accomodated by a mild fever. I finally decided to go to a doctor yesterday and learned that I have strep throat. Why in the world am I the only one in this household that gets sick all the dang time? It's so weird. I have kissed everyone around here and shared food/drink over the past week and still no one else has caught it. Isn't strep supposed to be highly contagious? Don't get me wrong, I am glad that no one else has it but it is so strange how I seem to be the only target. So now I have had a uterine infection, mastitis, numerous colds and strep throat over the past 9 weeks. What's next-swine flu? I am now at a breaking point and I cannot take it any more. I need to get healthy again. Could lactating keep my immune system down just like during pregnancy? It sure seems that I have been on tons of antibiotics since having baby girl. My milk has taken a hit each time that I have to take meds so I am really frustrated at this point. Yesterday's pumping sessions ended with a noticeable drop in production. I am beginning to think that I need to wean but I hate to do that to baby girl. It's just getting too hard to keep up an acceptable amount of milk when I keep getting sick. Is there anything I should be doing to keep my immune system up or will I just have to stop lactating to build my immunity back up? Any advice??

Catching Up-Zoo, Kidlet Updates, Boobies, etc.

Back in April, we headed to the Denver Zoo with Johnna and her kiddos. We had a good time picnicing on one of the lawns. There seemed to be a ton of Canadian geese nesting and that was pretty cool. See Emerson above? He is looking at the goose from afar because he was afraid of being pecked to death if he got too close, lol.

Here's Talan trying to make Emerson smile for the camera. He was being a pain and just scowled at me until Talan stepped in to help.

A family of geese that we saw near a water fountain

My Mom flew in on April 25th to keep me company while Clayton went away on business. He was gone to Cinncinati for 2 weeks to take some kind of classes for work. I could never be alone at night that long because I get too scared so that is why Mom came to the rescue. It definitely helped having her here. We went out to eat a million times and had fun shopping. I introduced her to the legendary Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish and now she is hooked. The funny thing is that she doesn't even like shrimp all that much but loved these. Hubby was the same way too until he had them. They are totally addictive.

Emerson finished school last week. His school sponsored a fun picnic and then had a program later that evening. My last post on here has a pic of him in his cute outfit. Little boys look so adorable in ties (he calls it his ribbon, lol).

Hayden took his first field trip with his school to the zoo last week. He was so excited to ride the bus and eat a sack lunch. This Thursday is his official last day as a kindergartner and he will have a field day/beach bash party on Friday morning. He has been playing t-ball and played his first game last night. He did great! I love watching his team and he seems to really enjoy playing the sport. Thank God he has some interest in athletics. Last year he lolligagged on the fields as everyone else played soccer. He was so not interested, lol. Now he actually wants to play soccer again so we will register him for fall soccer soon. It just took him another year to want to play sports. Yay!! I love being a sports mama.

Both kiddos should be getting their passports soon. We applied for them last week. Once they arrive we will officially have all of our documents for the upcoming Disney cruise in September. Now we just need to get them swimming. Both boys are signed up for swim lessons starting in early June.

Now on to me. Check out the blurry photo below. Do you see that large mound that seems to be growing out of Hayden's cheek? That would be my new boobies, lol. Right now I am in a 34D bra which is just insane. I have lost all of my pregnancy weight but my boobies don't seem to be going anywhere. I am still pumping 3-4 times a day for the baby so that is why they haven't disappeared as of yet. I would love to be able to keep them but I know that they will shrivel after I wean. If I could just keep them I wouldn't need that surgery in July. Sheesh. That would save me a ton of money. Ahhh, but Mother Nature is so stinkin' cruel. She makes me blossom and then takes it all back later. Sigh....

My Sweet Boy

Emerson (4)

Here's a recent pic of big E in the front yard before his pre-k program for the end of the year. Isn't he adorable?

I'm back!!

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom for the past few weeks and I have been really busy lately so my blog has been neglected. I am glad to say that life has returned to normal and I should be posting regularly again next week. It has been difficult just trying to do all the things that need to be done. Since it is the end of the school year and Hayden has been playing t-ball, life has been racing by. With all that being said, I will hopefully edit some photos tonight and get them posted so I can catch my blog back up to present day.

I will also try to post a pic of baby girl from the birth. Everyone keeps asking me about her and asking why I never posted a pic. I will see if I can. I need her Mommy's permission first so I can't guarantee it.

I'll Be Back.... (said in the Terminator voice)

I haven't been able to spend alot of time updating my blog lately because my Mom is in town. She came in last Saturday and will be with us until the 12th. Clayton is in Cinncinnati almost that whole time (thus the reason I had her flown in). Anyhoo, just thought I would let you all know why I have temporarily disappeared.

Fun in the Sun

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful outside so the boys took advantage of it. Hayden finally rides his bike without training wheels and Emerson can now maneuver the Jeep really well. I am so proud of them. They had a blast. I just hope that the warm weather is here to stay. Please, no more blizzards!!

"Well" wishes for E

This past Sunday was spent running to the ER. Poor Emerson was blowing bubbles with Hayden in the backyard when he fell head-first into one of our window wells. Hayden saw it happen and then ran frantically into the kitchen to get me. I panicked and yelled for Clayton to go get him. I just couldn't do it. I was so afraid that E was really hurt and I couldn't stand the thought of it. I wouldn't make a good trauma nurse, huh? Anyhoo, Clayton pulled him up out of it and brought him inside. He wasn't bleeding but he did have a large bump on the back of his head. He was lucky to have not broken anything since the well is about 5 foot deep and has rocks all in the bottom of it. We got into the car and rushed to the hospital to get him checked out (I worry so much now about head injuries thanks to Natasha Richardson. It scares me that someone can seem fine after a fall and then suddenly die from a brain bleed). The doctor at the hospital said that Emerson looked fine but to keep a close watch on him for a few days. He slept with us that night and we had to wake him up every 2 hours to make sure that he could still answer simple questions. I didn't get much sleep that night due to worrying about the little guy so much. He woke up feeling okay. He has a few scratches and scrapes but he seems to be doing fine. It really could have been so much worse. He could have had bleeding, broken bones or a concussion. Thank God for watching over him.

***Please note that we do have well covers on our back 2 wells because they are level with the patio. We decided not to cover the 3 side ones because there is nothing near them and the ground is completely covered with rocks. The kids KNOW that they shouldn't be near them. Sigh...well now they know why.

Now on to me. I am a complete klutz and I admit it. Monday was such a pretty day that I decided to pull Emerson in the wagon to pick up Hayden at school. Clayton had it hanging so high in the garage that I couldn't get it down. I pulled a 5 gallon paint bucket over to it and used it to stand. The stupid thing tipped over just as I was about to get the wagon off the bracket. I landed on my butt. I have a big bruise on my right hip and a scratch on my arm. I am really thankful that I didn't hit my head. What is with all these falls lately?

Emerson's New Glasses

E was watching tv when Clayton took this pic. The background was distracting so I changed it over to black and white. In case you are wondering, his frames are blue.

Egg Huntin'

Hayden (6) & Emerson (4) hunting Easter eggs in the back yard

Gee, I can't wait until the weather warms up and we can turn the sprinkler system back on. That brown grass is driving me batty!! I need some green around here.

I am a total slacker, Easter and Emerson's new glasses

Is anyone even still checking in on my blog any more? My lack of updates surely doesn't help, lol. Sorry for that but I am like this after each birth of a baby. My mind doesn't like to focus on much, especially the computer. I am a terrible emailer and blogger right now. For this I am sorry. I just have to take time for myself during the post-partum period. It's my time to rejuvenate and get back to normal. I am doing well at this point both mentally and physically so I should be back to my old self soon.

What did you all do for Easter? We had the Long family over and had a lovely dinner. Johnna made the yummiest ham and I went all out with the sides. For dessert, I got us some toppings and ice cream to make sundaes. The kiddos had a wonderful time playing together. The adults played some Guitar Hero and chatted. It was a relaxing and fun day.

Emerson came home last week with a sheet from a free eye check at school indicating that he may be farsighted and have astigmatism. I immediately made him an appt. with my eye doctor for Saturday. He was a little bit nervous but did all the tests perfectly. I was amazed at how well he took instruction from the doctor. After everything was done, the doctor told us that E is very farsighted in his left eye. Most kids are a bit farsighted at his age but his condition wasn't anywhere near normal. He also has slight astigmatism which wasn't a shock considering almost everyone in my family does. It just means that our eyes aren't perfectly round. Anyhow, we ended up ordering him a pair of glasses and he looks so cute in them! I will be sure to get a pic of him this week for the blog.

MAJOR Grocery Savings, weight loss and other stuff

[I apologize for the lack of photos. I have been experiencing technical difficulties.]

I went to the grocery store last week and bought $344.00 worth of groceries for only $124. That is a savings of over $220 thanks to the Grocery Game!! Everything was name brand and I didn't buy anything that we didn't need. You naysayers have no idea what you could be saving. It is insane to pay full price for food when you don't have to. If you are interested in learning more, do a search on my blog (at the top of the page) for "grocery game" and you will find several posts from me on the topic.

I am about to reveal a very sensitive thing about myself-my weight. I normally would never do this, especially here on my blog, but I am totally amazed. Today marks 1 month since giving birth to my surrobabe and I am at...............124 pounds!!! It is incredible to have my body bounce back so quickly and I am eternally grateful to my genes for that. After having my 1st baby it took me about 8 months to get back to my normal weight, it took about 3 months after the second, 1 month after the third and 3 weeks after the fourth. How can it have gotten easier after each baby? I thought that it would be harder with each child. If I wasn't wired this way then I seriously wouldn't have considered being a surrogate.

Speaking of surrogacy, baby girl is doing fabulously. She is getting big and her parents are so in love. Ahhhh, isn't that sweet? It makes me feel so good to know that I played a part in helping create their family. What an honor that was! I just shipped out another cooler full of milk for her today. I love being able to continue helping them even after she was born.

Spring break is finally over, thank the Lord! My kiddos drove me nutso all week long as they were continually consumed with sheer boredom. It didn't help that we got hit with 2 different snow storms either.

Are you in the mood for a delicious treat? If so, you must try this recipe-Bliss Layer Bars. They are sinfully delicious. We found them to be best straight out of the fridge. If you let them warm up, the chocolate seems to overwhelm the peanut butter goodness on the bottom. I got this recipe from the Sunday Baker. Her yummy blog is listed on my right sidebar.

Here's another personal topic for ya-boob jobs. Have any of you gals ever considered plastic surgery? Right now I love that I am a 36C but I know that will change as soon as I stop lactating. Ugh. Why can't I just keep the ones I have now? They are perfectly shaped and full. To keep that appearance I will have to undergo surgery. Fullness is just something that I don't possess when they aren't full of milk. Have any of you undergone an augmentation or know someone who has? I would love opinions. I already have a surgery scheduled for July 10th but I don't know if I will actually go through with it. I may chicken out, lol.

I will update tonight, I promise!

I have already got a lengthy post in draft form right now. I just don't have time to add photos to it at the moment. I will post everything later tonight. ;-)

***Yes Amber, I am making sure to post since you demanded that I update my blog, lol.***

Hungry?

Emerson

One would think that we must starve our children since they felt the need to resort to eating snow. I assure you that we do feed our kiddos, lol.

Hayden

My Silly Boys

I have alot of catching up to do on the old blog. It seems that since I took such a long blogging hiatus during the pregnancy that I have a bunch of photos to sort through. Here are a few that I thought were particularly cute. The photo above is of the boys wearing their Valentine's shirts (Gymboree). Aren't those shirts just the coolest? The photos below are of Clayton with each of the boys. He took the pics himself so they were a little too close to the camera for good quality. I transposed them into funky colors for a fun scrapbook layout that I have in mind. There are more pics in that series but Clayton would probably kill me if I posted them on here for the world to see. They are quite ridiculous, lol.

Moo!!

No, that bottle didn't just come from my milk man. That's all me. Just call me a walking dairy. Baby girl seems to really like my milk. She didn't do as well on formula. She had to be supplemented with formula while I built up enough milk reserves to ship a cooler-full to her in NY. I sent 360 ounces of frozen liquid gold this past Monday via FedEx overnight. I hope to send her another cooler next week. Right now I am averaging 40 ounces a day. I think that it should be a little bit higher by now but the doctor told me that the antibiotics that I took last week can hinder milk supply. I won't complain though because I am making more than enough to feed her daily. She is currently drinking 20 ounces a day. Grow baby girl, grow!

The filled cooler ready for shipping

You would think that I had a new baby at home just by looking at my countertop, huh? It's insane how many bottles and pump items I have to clean on a daily basis. It's all worth it though. ;-)

The Blizzard of 2009

I knew that they were calling for snow today but this is wayyyy worse than I expected. I hate it when it snows here because life continues on regardless of how much snow we get. Well, not today. School was actually called out for the first time since we have lived here. Yay! I have now learned that it really does take a blizzard for my boys to be kept out of school, lol. Wouldn't you know that we tied the record high of 79 degrees just this past Sunday? Sheesh...

The pics are a bit dark but I chose to leave them that way. It is really gray outside and I felt that photoshopping them to make them lighter took away from the way it really looks out there.

I want to thank everyone who has sent me well wishes over the past few weeks. It has been crazy around here. I am finally on the mend and my family is doing well also. Thanks for keeping us all in your thoughts and prayers. Speaking of which, please keep my cousin Renae's family in your prayers as they just found out that her husband lost his job. The company he worked for just up and left without any warning. I hope that Ryan can find another job soon and that everything will work out for the better.

Sorry I am so slack...I have good reason though

I have been dealing with a nasty uterine infection and the pain has been unreal. I went to the ER on Friday and that is when I was diagnosed. I woke up that morning and couldn't move. My body hurt so badly. Clayton had to give me a Percocet and then move me himself by pulling my legs over the edge of the bed. At the time, I was both engorged with milk and had to pee really badly. It was a freakin' nightmare. After the pill kicked in and I was able to stand up, we headed out the door to the ER. The doctor that I saw was great as were the nurses. He checked me and told me that I had a tear on my cervix (yowsa!). He ran lots of bloodwork and did a urine test. Everything was fine so that is when he swabbed my cervix to test for infection. Unfortunately we still don't know the definite results because it takes a few days to run those tests in the lab. I see my OB today so she will hopefully know the answer. I have been doing better but I just had a relapse about 30 min. ago. I was taking a bath and began having the severe abdominal pain again. Sigh....Please Lord, heal me. I will post an update as soon as I know anything.

On top of all this, my kiddos both have fifth's disease. Emerson threw up his cereal this morning and is running a low grade fever. Both kids have the signature rash on their faces. Egad.

Welcome to the world baby girl!!

Sorry to have disappeared but the past week or so has been pretty hectic and I haven't had much time to jump on here to update. Baby girl was giving me much grief and comfort was a hard thing to come by. Well now I know why. She was devising a plan to come into the world a little bit earlier than expected.

On Thursday night, I went to bed early and woke up around 2am with super strong contractions. After suffering for about 30 minutes I drew myself a bubble bath and tried to relax. That didn't happen. The contractions just kept on going and they got way too close together for comfort. I waited a couple of hours to see if they were going to amount to anything before I called the OB. I called in and they had me go to the hospital to get checked. By the time I got dressed and out the door the contractions seemed to fizzle. Ugh! That was frustrating. I was still having them but they had went from 2 min. apart to about 5-6 min. apart. I was afraid that I was going to get sent back home upon arrival to the ER and Clayton was a little aggravated too. When I got checked in the nurse monitored me and noticed that the contractions weren't very rhythmic any more. I was embarassed until I got checked for dialation. I was between 4-5 cm dialated and 70% effaced. That meant that I wasn't going home. Whoo hoo! All I needed was to be over 4 cm with some contractions to get admitted for labor/delivery. Once I got the definite word I called my IM to tell her the surprising news. She was a little shocked to say the least, lol. The bad thing was that she had to run out of work, grab her hubby and then jump on the earliest flight that they could get on. She also brought her Mom along. After sorting through all the chaos, the earliest flight that they could catch put them getting here in CO at 8pm.

It took 3 nurses and about an hour to get all of my bloodwork drawn and the IV in. I am bruised all over my arms at this point. Hopefully no one will think that I am a heroin addict around here, lol. After the poking/prodding, I walked and labored all morning. My water was broken after lunchtime and then I got put on Pitocin to make the contractions come at regular intervals. Everything was going well until about 3pm. I had already expressed my wishes for an epidural earlier that morning but apparently that was forgotten. As I hit transition at around 8 cm I began to ask for it. I knew that things were changing and I was ready to relax in the jacuzzi. Well, unfortunately for me that was about the time that my nurses were going to have a shift change. My current nurse told me that I would have to wait until the next nurse was in to take care of that for me. Egad. It took forever for that to happen. My pain level was super high due to an incredibly sore cervix (my OB swept my membranes rather aggressively prior to all of this). By the time my new nurse arrived to care for me I was ready to go straight for the epidural instead. I was so mad. I should have been granted my wishes wayyyy before things got out of hand. I did not plan to do this birth naturally and I never meant to be pushed that far into the labor process without pain relief. She told me that anesthesiologist would be down in a little bit to take care of me. I about came unglued. It was 20-30 min. before he finally made his appearance. By that time I was very unhappy and I could not control the pain at all. Everyone was trying to help me focus but it was down right impossible. The guy started to read some crap to me about policies and I just said, "Yea, yea, GET ON WITH IT"! He began to explain what all he was doing and I let him know rather quickly that I didn't care. I just wanted him to hurry. Too bad for me that he had to stick me multiple times to find a good location to put the dang catheter in my spine. It was nutso. All the while I was suffering contractions that were one on top of the other and my body was bent over in an uncomfortable position. When I felt a contraction he would have to stop and wait until I was over it. I will never forget how awful that was. After he got the tube in place he had me lay on my side in a horrible position and then I began to have another horrid contraction. I mentioned that I was happy for that to be the last one and that I was ready to not feel anything else after it. That's when he made the worst comment ever. He said that the meds wouldn't knock out all the pain and that it wouldn't completely numb anything. I responded with a rather rude "WHAT?!". I argued with him and said that my previous epidurals did in fact do as I said. I was ticked. If I had just went through all that spine poking for meds that wouldn't even be worth a crap, I was going to kill him.

Thankfully he was wrong because I had no pain at all after 5 min. or so. That was good and all until we found out that he had double dosed me. The way that we found that out really sucked for me, lol. I began to get dizzy and nauseous. My ears became muffled. I just knew that I was about to pass out so I called my nurse. She came running in because she knew why I was calling before I even hit the button (she was monitoring my vitals on a computer at the nurses station outside my door). My blood pressure had suddenly plummeted causing me to almost black out. She immediately put a cold and damp washcloth on my forehead. Then she put some kind of miracle drug into my IV to counteract the dropping blood pressure. It worked rather quickly, thank the Lord! After just a few moments I was feeling good and I had no more pain. That was awesome, lol. Dr. Kozak came in and checked me right after that incident and I was almost ready to push.

The OB got suited up and so did a gal that was learning from her (I agreed to let her be in there as she had never witnessed a vaginal delivery before). Let's just say that the student gal will never forget seeing this type of delivery for the first time, lol. The OB, the student, Clayton and my nurse were all standing at the base of my bed when I was instructed to push. Suddenly a fountain of liquid shot into the air and everyone got sprayed (TMI-I know, I know). I stopped pushing and we all began to chuckle. I had just peed on everyone around me, lol. My nurse had forgotten to empty my bladder for me just before the pushing phase. Since I couldn't feel the urge to pee I forgot about it too. After we quit laughing and could compose ourselves once again, the nurse did her duty and we got back to it. Baby girl was born 12 min. after the fountain incident at 5:42pm. She was super easy to deliver and I believe I have maybe 1-2 stitches (though I have no pain at all down there). It was super simple and she came out with a perfectly round head. She is a gorgeous little gal. Her weight was 7 lbs., 7 oz. I couldn't believe that. She was bigger than both of my boys and she showed up almost 3 weeks early (I was 37 weeks, 3 days preggo). If she would have waited until the due date, she could have possibly been as big as my 1st surrobaby that was just over 9 lbs. Sheesh! I am so glad that she wanted to be early.

Clayton took lots of pics of baby girl and sent some to the parents over the phone. They were still on a flight so they had no idea that she was already born. As soon as they landed they saw her for the first time as the plane pulled into the terminal. My IM called me and thanked us for that. Now they were super anxious to get to the hospital so that they could get their hands on her for the first time. We took care of baby girl and got her ready for them. Clayton especially loved handling her as she was so content to be held. We waited forever but hubby had to go home because it was getting so late. They finally arrived exhausted but excited just before midnight. I was thrilled to see them meet. What a sweet sight that was. They took the baby and got a room down the hall so that they could get settled in for the night. I can't imagine how tired they were after the long day of travelling that they had just went through.

I have got to run and go catch come shut-eye (after doing a pumping session-that baby is one hungry little girl!). I haven't been home for very long tonight so I need some sleep. I don't feel like editing this post so please excuse any typos. My eyes are just too tired to scan everything over right now. I just wanted to update everyone with the birth story while it is still fresh on my mind. Hope you all have a wonderful night and I will post more updates soon. :-)

Heading to the spa.....ahhhhh, yea!

I am so in need of some relaxation. I am heading to the spa for a few hours this afternoon and I cannot wait. Afterwards, I am going to take a steam bath and then do some shopping. All of this will occur without the kiddos so it is going to be a big treat. Yay, go me!!

My Mom is here now to help me out with the kiddos and she is staying until after I have the baby. It is going to be so nice having some help (believe me, I need it at this point, lol). :-)

Let's get this show on the road

Dang it, I cannot wear my wedding ring now and that is really bugging me. I am not all that swollen but my ring finger is a tad bit bigger than normal because my ring can barely go over the knuckle. Ugh! I know, I know. That is a common pregnancy occurence but I have never had it happen to me. I just hate that people out in public think that I am a knocked-up unwed teenager (supposedly I look fairly young). Sheesh.

I spent the majority of the weekend in bed due to a pinched nerve in my back. I have no idea how I managed to get it but I did and it hurts. If I sit up in a certain way it acts up on me. I was planning to go to the spa this week and get a massage but I don't know if I can. We shall see. My back may not like me laying on my stomach for such a long period of time. That totally stinks too because that is the main reason I like going in for prenatal massages. The ability to lay on my stomach on one of those special tables built just for preggo tummies is the best. Maybe I should go in for some sort of foot/leg treatment if I am not up for the massage? Hmmmm...

Only 1 more day and I will be able to give birth in the nearest and newest hospital. They don't allow births there before 36 weeks gestation due to not having a NICU for premies. I gave birth there in December 2007 and I loved that hospital so much. I am so glad that I am going to get to go there again this time around. The place is pretty new (built in March 2007) and it offers some of the best amenites (jacuzzi tubs, wireless fetal monitoring that can even be used in the tub, plasma tvs, room service just like hotels offer and beautiful views of the Rockies). The nurses there rock too. Now we just wait until that magic day rolls around. So far I see no reason to think that baby girl is going to come out anytime soon. She seems to be happily snug in my belly. If she doesn't decide to come on her own before 39 weeks then we will have an induction on 3/17 providing that my body has progressed enough to facilitate an easy induction. Ahhhh, I can't wait to be able to sleep on my tummy and to be able to wear my own clothes again. That seems like such a dream right now, lol. I am getting so anxious which makes this process seem to drag along. Why must the last few weeks of pregnancy seem like forever?

Yes, I am a juvenile....lol

You know how all the teens of today get roped into silly websites where they chat amongst themselves almost constantly? You know the sites that you wouldn't be caught dead on because you know that you are too old and mature for them? Well, let me just say that I am officially a loser because I am totally into Facebook, lol. I have a lot of friends on there and we have such a good time keeping up with each other. I would never have thought that it would be so nice to be on such a site but I love it! I used to do MySpace a little bit but I really never liked the format. Facebook is a whole 'nother ball game though. It is nice to stay connected with my high school/college friends and my family in a way that doesn't seem too difficult. I can leave little one-liner comments on their statuses rather than writing a novel of an email to chat. I have spoken to my family more than ever since joining and that is a good thing. What's funny is that all the adults are chatting more than the younger family members. In fact, my 19 year old cousin asked me the other day why the adults are Facebooking all the dang time, lol. That cracked me up. Another cool thing about it is that it offers a Blackberry application so I am able to Facebook anytime, anywhere. Yes, I am an official goober but at least I can stay entertained whenever I feel boredom strike me. ;)

Holy cow, I am close to birthing time!

I can't believe that I will be hitting the 34 week mark tomorrow. Time sure has flown. It's really weird to think that in just 2 weeks from Tuesday the baby will be considered full term. I have to make it to that mark to deliver at the nearby awesome hospital in Loveland. They don't have a NICU and any baby under 36 weeks is considered a premie which means I couldn't deliver there. I would have to go up to Fort Collins to deliver. If I happen to make it to induction date (3/17) then I am 5 weeks away as that would be 39 weeks for me. Gee, it is all happening so fast now.

I have to admit, labor/delivery has always been my favorite part of the pregnancy but this time I am a little bit nervous. Since baby girl moved from the breach position and is now head down and possibly engaged, I shouldn't be as scared as I was a couple of weeks ago about the possibility of a C-Section. I guess my fear has gone from the threat of a possible C-Section to the worry that I will have a super fast birth with no time to think or get drugs if I want them. My neighbor told me a horrible story about one of her births. She ended up stepping out of her shower when she was preggo and immediately felt a contraction. Shortly after that, her baby girl delivered herself. She had no time to think or to call paramedics. How scary is that?! I would be traumatized without the support and care of a nursing staff overseeing everything during the birthing process. Nurses rock! Also, Clayton is a great labor coach so I would be lost if he wasn't around during the pushing phase.

I have already gotten my hospital bag half-packed and all the stuff that I have for the IPs is already bagged and ready to go when the magic begins to happen. My pump and supplies have arrived so I am ready to move to the next phase. Whoo hoo!

Now here is an extremely important question for you guys-What Nintendo DS game do I need to buy for entertainment? I have already finished MillionHeir, CrossworDS and Brain Age II. I need something new to occupy my down time in the hospital. Any recommendations?

Notice my new ticker?!

I gotta say, I am SUPER excited about our upcoming September family vacation. After researching alot on the net we finally found a fabulous deal on a Disney cruise. Everyone seems to think that Disney does it better than all the other cruise lines so we really wanted to try them. We found a great 7 day cruise in the western Caribbean and decided to book. The best thing is that our awesome friends, the Barnes', have decided to go too. We are going to have a blast! It's going to be a long wait beforehand. I am so impatient. That ticker is going to take forever to count down to departure. Ack.

Our 6 year old little man

Hayden's actual birthday was on Thursday but we had a small party on Saturday with a few family members. He was so excited to see everyone and to have a day dedicated to himself. We ordered pizzas (I would normally cook something really good but I am supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible) and had a mint custard concrete cake with mini M&Ms from Culver's. We all relaxed and chatted while Hayden opened his gifts. His favorite gift was the marble toy that my IPs sent him. Grandpa Steve worked hard to get it all set up for him. That night we went to Red Robin for dinner and Hayden enjoyed being sang to by the wait staff.

On Sunday, we headed up to Fort Collins so that Hayden could spend all of the birthday money he had accumulated. We took him to an awesome toy store but didn't find anything he really wanted. We took off to Target after that and he got himself a new game for his Nintendo DS (Diddy Kong Racing) and then we ventured over to Toys R Us where he bought Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. He still has $25 to spend and I would be willing to bet that he will use it to buy another DS game soon.

Last Thursday, we did several fun things since it was officially his big day. I took him to get hot cakes from McDonald's (at his request) and then I picked up some goodies for his class to eat. Emerson and I joined his class just after 3pm to celebrate with all the kiddies. We had M&M cookies, sour cream potato chips, Starburst candies and juice boxes. I really wanted to take cupcakes but the teachers request that you don't since kindergartners can be really messy. I can't say that I don't blame them for that, lol. For dinner, we ventured toward Denver to eat at a really random Mexican restaurant known as Casa Bonita. If you watch South Park on tv then you have likely seen an episode based on this weird place. There are guys who dive into a small pool of water in the middle of the place, a broken arcade, mediocre food, a guy dressed in a silly gorilla suit, Black Bart's Cave and lots of strange rooms for the kiddies to explore. The place is really odd. My friend Melissa brought her family to join us (her son Brayden was in Hayden's pre-k last year and they are good friends). Clayton took the kids to explore the place while Melissa, her hubby Rob and I sat and enjoyed some adult conversation for awhile. We all agree that this place stunk and isn't worth our time. At least the kids still managed to enjoy themselves.

Bulbous, lol

God Bless My Family....

This post is extremely difficult for me to write but I feel it is a good way for me to cope with the recent loss of a close family member. Terry is my cousin Sheila's husband. I have known him since I was a small child. He used to be at my Aunt Judy's house (she kept me during the week) all the time when they were two young teens in love. I saw them go to prom, I saw him leave to join the Marines and I was in their wedding as a 5 year old flower girl. My cousin Christine's (Sheila's sister) husband, Jeff, told me that when I was a little girl that Terry was my favorite person. I had a hard time believing that because Terry is such a hard person to get to know. I don't remember much about him from way back when. Well, once I had my boys and I saw how much he enjoyed playing with them, I got it. He has a knack for being a fun-loving soul with little kids. My boys and Christine's boys can always count on having a good time as long as Terry is there to entertain. Speaking of entertainment, he can always make everyone in the room laugh. He is a total smart-butt and has such a way with sarcasm. He really could crack me up at times.

Thanks to him, I have 2 wonderful cousins-Natalie(22) and Rachel(16). They are both beautiful girls that I have the pleasure of being related to. I miss them very much since I have moved here to CO but I feel lucky to have been in NC long enough to have seen them both grow up. My heart goes out to them and their Mother.

I can't believe that I got that call this morning. I wish I could just forget it. This is definitely a wake-up call as Terry was only 44. He is the second person in my family to die young from a heart attack (I had a 43 year old uncle on the the other side of my family pass from a heart attack back in 1997). It just makes me realize how mortal we all really are. The really bad thing in this situation is that we thought that he was okay. He had been sick the week before and went to the ER on Friday to find out that he had a couple of heart attacks. They put in 2 stints and everything should have been fine. Heck, he was a lucky man to have survived those. He was feeling better and recovering well from what I had last heard. When asked by a nurse what he would like for lunch he replied that he didn't see a whopper on the menu, lol. That's so him to be a smart alec like that. I am sure everyone chuckled. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse last night and he passed this morning. This just leaves me to ponder "Why?". He wasn't fat, didn't smoke and didn't drink. He was too young to go so early.

I am trying to get clearance to fly home. I am unfortunately really far into my pregnancy and I have had complications to boot. My OB said that she will clear me as long as I don't have any painful contractions (I am currently on Procardia to help relax my uterus) and if I am not further dialated on Thursday. I will just have to wait and see. Hayden's birthday is on that day too so I will try to make it extra special that day if I get to leave over the weekend. We are planning to take him out on that night for some fun but Saturday was going to be all his too since we were going to hopefully meet with some family for a little party. Now Clayton may just have to be in charge of it all.

Sorry I couldn't bring myself to write in the past tense throughout the beginning of my post but my emotions are too raw to fully accept Terry's passing. I have never felt so far from my family as I do right now. :(

Surrogacy Update-I had an interesting day yesterday, to say the least

At my 31 week OB appt., I explained to the doctor how I had contractions from about 1am-10am on Sunday morning. They were painful, 2-4 min. apart, caused me back/abdominal pain and ranged from 30 seconds-2 min. each. I took it super easy and waited until shift change at the hospital because I didn't want to be the gal who made an OB get up from their slumber for a possible false alarm. Clayton made me some breakfast and then they stopped, thank God. Well, thanks to all the recent activity I was dialated to a 1. They decided to give me a test that can detect changes in hormones that could possibly lead to pre-term labor. I took it 2 weeks ago also due to contractions and passed it. This time I wasn't so lucky. The nurse that called with the results said that failing was pretty rare so they felt it necessary to do more monitoring and tests to check on baby.

FYI-just because I failed the test does not mean that I will go into labor in the immediate future. It just means that I have had a hormone shift and that *could* indicate labor approaching (or not). "Could" is the operative word here.

My instructions were to head up to Fort Collins for monitoring at the hospital there. I picked up the boys from their schools and tried to get in touch with my husband a million times to no avail. Ugh! Why is it that he is completely unreachable when I need him most?? I drove over to his work and hung out in the lobby about 30 min. before I even saw anyone that could help me locate him. All the people that I had numbers for weren't at their desks and there was no one near the front to ask help from (the problem is that the building has major security and you can't walk past the lobby without an ID badge). Finally a gal came through the security gate as she was leaving for the day and I stopped her. Thankfully she knew how to page Clayton. He was shocked to know that I was in the building and left work immediately.

We checked into the hospital just before 5pm and I got settled in with an external monitor. Baby girl was ticked off having that belt around me. She kept kicking at it which made it difficult for the nurse to keep the monitor on her. Heck, she can't stand when the kids lay against me, when I prop a book on my belly or when Clayton puts his arm around me so this was no shock, hee hee. The kids and Clayton took off to eat at Coopersmith's and I enjoyed room service (the food is actually good!). After a while on the monitor, the OB made the decision to give me a steroid shot to help develop the baby's lungs just in case she is a preemie. About 45min. after that, they gave me another shot to help stop contractions. That was only a temporary thing though and it wore off in 30 min. As soon as it wore off, I began having lots of contractions which was weird. They made the decision to send me home as long as I felt good and gave me some pills to stop the contractions at home. I have to take them around the clock. Unfortunately, I have already experienced a few contractions despite the pills so we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen. I have to go back to the hospital tonight to get a second dose of the steroid and then report back to my OB in her office on either Thursday or Friday. Fun stuff I tell ya.

It really doesn't help that I have to keep going up to Fort Collins for everything as that is a 45 min. drive each way for me. My local hospital doesn't have a NICU and my OB is only in the local office one day a week making it impossible for this to be easy. Oh well, at least baby girl is being given the best shot at survival should she make her appearance early into the world. If she didn't get those shots then she could have major issues breathing due to lung maturity. Thank the Lord for modern science. :)

Monday, Monday....(Peanut Butter, Cruises, Grocery Game, etc.)

I seem to be keeping a trend of updating the blog on Mondays. I have just been so tired lately. The ole blog has been the last thing on my mind. This past week was complete hell for me. You know that peanut butter recall thing that CNN has been talking about? Welllllll, I found out about it a little too late. I bought a box of Keebler peanut butter crackers a little while back and I ate one pack just about every day for the past week and a half. Little did I know that they were making me incredibly sick. Since I am pregnant, I just assumed that the massive headaches and nauseous stomach problems were a result of Miss Thang. Lo and behold it was the stupid crackers. I didn't catch on to the issue until after I opened the last pack this past Saturday night. When I saw the news talking about it they reported that the bad ones were made by Kellogg's. I thought mine were fine until I read the backside. Who knew that Keebler was owned by Kellogg's? Ugh. Needless to say, I won't be eating any more peanut butter crackers in the near future. I was pretty much bed ridden and miserable as a result from eating them. Now my girl scout cookies (Do-Si-Dos and Tag-Alongs-both have peanut butter) that I just ordered better be okay to eat!!

***I just learned that the girl scout cookies should be fine. Thank the Lord!***

I got my awesome new pink Blackberry Curve this week and I am in love. Having a full keyboard is way better than having 2 letters per key on the Pearl. Maybe crunching my pink Pearl in the car door wasn't such a bad thing afterall, lol.

The kids were out of school today so we went to see "Hotel for Dogs" at the theatre. It was really cute and the kids seemed to like it. I was really only there for the buttery popcorn and cherry slushie though. Yum....

Anyone have any cruise line recommendations? We are looking at going to the Mexican Riviera sometime this year (Cabo San Lucas, Mazutlan, Puerto Vallarta) but we are not sure who to book with. We took a Carnival cruise to the western Caribbean for our honeymoon and while it was alot of fun, we feel that another cruise line may suit us better. I am really looking at Royal Caribbean at the moment. Their ships seem really impressive. We would like to look at Norwegian and Princess too. Anyone know anything about the differences between lines?

There has much talk lately about saving money at the grocery store. I cannot stress it enough but if you are truly interested in doing something about it other than buying generics, shopping at Wal-Mart (which is the pit of hell in my book and I boycotted them years ago-GO TARGET!) or only buying sales items, then you need to change your way of shopping. The Grocery Game is the best and most reliable way to get your weekly grocery bill down all the while causing you to build a nice stash of groceries. I have been doing the GG for over 3 years now and it has changed my way of grocery shopping forever. There is a 4 week trial that you can do for a dollar but it really takes about 12 weeks to see it in full effect. The reason I prefer the GG over other sites is simply because Teri makes it so easy. I don't have to put together the sales lists at all because it is already done for me every week. I went to King Sooper's (yes, that name is completely idiotic, lol) last week and got $116 worth of groceries for $50.35. I did not buy any generics. I simply used coupons from the Sunday paper on name-brand items to achieve that nice discount. The list told me what was on the best sale and what week's newspaper the corresponding coupons for the items came from. It's that simple. If you decide to give the site a try, I would love to have your referral so that I can earn free weeks. Just use my email address of: brandylogan@gmail.com

BTW, if you want to see my previous posts on the Grocery Game, click here to read them. I have pictures of my loot plus a 2006 year-end savings report. Those old posts help describe just how the GG works.

Holy Crapola...

I did a bad thing on Saturday and I am so mad at myself. As I was getting into the car at the grocery store, I managed to shut the door on the bottom part of my sweater coat. Since it is maternity it is huge on me. The pockets hang really low. Unfortunately my pink Blackberry Pearl was in that pocket and it got crunched. Ugh! I loved that phone. It wouldn't turn on and just kept blinking a red light at me. I am so mad that I didn't make sure to pull my coat in all the way before shutting that door. Anyway, after some deliberation, I decided to look at getting a new one. Verizon has them really cheap right now and Clayton's phone is up for renewal. He offered to give me his new phone option to replace mine. Isn't that sweet of him? I ended up ordering a pink Blackberry Curve this time and I can't wait to get it. The Pearl had 2 alphas on each key so having a full keyboard is going to be wonderful. I would have gotten a new BB World Edition phone because it has a better keyboard but I didn't like the overall size of it. It was a bit wider than the Curve. BB users look like that are talking into a flapjack so my opinion is that smaller is better, lol.

I woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow. This immediately bummed me out because I hate driving around in it but at least now I will get to try out the new snow boots that Clayton bought me for Christmas. Whoo hoo!

Baby girl is doing very well and is sooo active lately. She pokes and prods me all the time, lol. My tummy is definitely getting bigger. Hopefully I will show you guys soon. I still haven't got a card reader for my laptop just yet and transferring photos is a huge pain. Can you believe that we will be 30 weeks along tomorrow? Wow, in just 6 short weeks I will be ready for potential birth. That is insane! The time sure has flown. If baby girl decides to hold out until induction day then she will be here on 3/17. We decided to set an induction at 39 weeks so that the parents can attend and it would make everything easier. Wish us luck!

New Year, New Us for the Future

Sorry I haven't put any pics on the blog. Either my card reader is broken or something is wrong with my laptop. I originally thought that it was my reader but now I am almost sure it is the computer. I have had it for almost 5 years now and it just recently started giving me trouble. **Sigh** I hate to buy a new one but I can see that it is inevitable. I cannot even hook up my either of my cameras to it to directly transfer the files. Ugh.


So what is going on with you guys? Did you make any new year resolutions? We kinda made one. We are going to try to get our future planned out. We don't have credit card debt but we do have a car, house and student loans to pay for. We also are now seriously thinking about retirement and college funds for the kids. Here are a few things that we are working on:

-To start the year off right, Clayton and I both now have savings accounts. We are great spenders but saving is something that we are going to have to learn.

-I already have a life insurance policy but Clayton is going to be getting one too soon. The kids and I would be completely devastated if something were to happen to hubby. We simply could not make it on our own. I could never afford the mortgage and car by myself. It also doesn't help that I haven't worked in 6 years. My lack of work experience sure wouldn't help matters.

-We are going to write up our will next month to make sure that our final wishes are carried out whenever that time shall come. We are appointing my SIL Stephanie as legal guardian of our kids just in case something happens to us while they are young. She would make a fabulous guardian for them so I want to be sure that she wouldn't have problems gaining custody.

There are lots of other things that we are going to do but my post is beginning to sound a little too gloomy/doomy so I will end it here. Just trust me, if you haven't been thinking about your financial future, there is no better time than now. Every pregnancy I seem to think about death alot and that is what has spurred this all. I just want to be sure that all of us are taken care of should Clayton or myself die. I have a huge load lifting off my shoulders as we take each of these steps to protect our family's future.

***Clayton is a little bit worried that I am going to push him down the stairs, lol. He is worth wayyyyy more to me alive than dead so I don't think so. If anything I should be watching my back, lol.

Coming Out of Hiding, lol

How has this holiday season been treating ya'll? Good, I hope. We have been extremely busy and I just haven't had alot of time to update my blog. Here's my attempt to bring my blog up-to-date:

12/17 (Wed.)-Emerson had his Christmas program with his preschool. He got to sing a few songs and then say a line by himself on stage. He was a little shy but he did great. He said his line perfectly. I told him to make sure to say it loud so that his Daddy could hear it. He was so proud of himself and we were too.

12/18 (Thurs.)-Today was the last day of school for both boys and each had their school Christmas parties on that day. I couldn't be in both places at the same time so Clayton went to Emerson's party and I went to Hayden's. I had to help the kiddos make pancakes on a griddle so that was interesting to say the least. As we walked out of the school we realized that it was snowing pretty heavily. It was nice to see the snow but it unfortunately messed up our travel plans for that weekend.

12/19 (Fri.)-This day marked Clayton's Christmas vacation. Every year he takes a couple of weeks off in December to relax and enjoy staying at home. He won't go back until January 2nd. We were supposed to leave and head out to Wyoming to spend Christmas with his Mom but that didn't happen due to the weather. Her area was supposed to get snow 3 of the 4 days we were going to be there. Heck if I wanted to travel in that mess. I love snow but I do not like to drive in it. That totally sucked.

12/20 (Sat.)-It's actually a good thing that we didn't go to Wyoming. I was sick as a dog and ended up spending the day in bed. I had a roaring headache.

12/21 (Sun.)-We headed to the Denver Zoo to see their holiday display of lights. The event is called Zoo Lights and it rocked. We froze our butts off but it was well worth it. The kids got to see Santa and then we took the little steam-powered train for a little tour around the middle of the park. After that we went to see the hippos, elephants, snakes, fish and giraffes in their indoor exhibits. There was a cute baby giraffe that we really enjoyed seeing. There was also supposed to be some baby snow leopards somewhere but we missed them. If you live anywhere near Denver, you really should check this event out. It ends after New Year's Day so it is still going on right now. The trip was well worth it to us and we plan to make it a Christmas tradition from now on.

12/22 (Mon.)-I worked on getting the house clean all day long. Clayton also helped quite a bit and then took the kiddos to see Bolt at the theatre. I soooo appreciated that as the kids were driving me insane.

12/23 (Tues.)-My parents flew in to spend the holidays with us. My Dad had never been on an airplane nor had he ever been to Colorado before this day. He also hadn't seen the kids since June 2007 so this was a big trip for him. We met up with them in Brighton for dinner at a yummy 50's diner. We had a good time and the kiddos were thrilled to see Grandma and Grandpa.

12/24 (Wed.)-My parents and the kids put together rice krispie houses (kinda like making gingerbread houses but they tasted much better IMO). Hubby helped the kids make sugar cookies and rice krispie treats for Santa. One of Santa's elves rang our door bell and left us all Christmas jammies and a note that said that we needed to go to bed soon because Santa was on his way. This is a yearly tradition that began with Hayden's first Christmas and it is one of my favorites. The kids never quite make it to the door fast enough to catch sight of the elves. It's all so much fun.

12/25 (Thurs.)-I couldn't believe that the kids weren't up at the buttcrack of dawn that morning. The one morning that I expect them to get up early is of course the day that they sleep in, lol. We all waited in the kitchen for them to come down. Once Hayden emerged I told him to wake his brother because Santa had left them some goodies. He quickly grabbed Emerson and they both flew down to the living room. It was fun watching them go through their stockings. After they finished we dove into ours and then everyone opened their gifts. Here are a few of the gifts we got that I can remember off the top of my head:

Hayden & Emerson
-2 Nintendo DS Lite systems
----games-Transformers, Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man, Spongebob-Drawn to Life, Lego Star Wars, Bolt
-Nintendo Wii
----games-Super Mario Kart, Thrillville, Da Blob, Rayman:Raving Rabbids, Paperboy Mario
----accessories-Sports Kit, 2 Steering Wheels, Gloves (covers for the 2 remotes and 2 nunchuks)
-2 Playdough Caddys
-Star Wars voice changing helmet
-Wooden disk sets that are used for building things

Me
-Nintendo DS Lite
----games-Brain Age 2, MillionHeir, CrossworDS
-Snow Boots
-Slippers
-NC State sweatshirt
-Bakeware set

Clayton
-Nintendo DS Lite
----games-Zelda, 007
-Coat and scarf
-Puffy vest
-NC State sweatshirt
-Personalized beer mugs
-Coffee caddy for Keurig cups

Don't you think that it is funny that all 4 of us got Nintendo DS Lites for Christmas? On top of that we got the Wii from Mom and Dad. Clayton still has his XBox 360 too so now we have a ton of video gaming options in our house. It is insane around here but a lot of fun, lol.

Mom and Dad usually don't do much for themselves for Christmas so I got them both stockings this year and filled them to the brim with lots of fun goodies. We also gave them a new digital camera so that they could get out of the Stone Age. Film is so old school, lol.

12/26 (Fri.)-We goofed off all morning and then headed out to Red Robin for lunch. After that, Mom and I went to Target to pick up some Christmas cards and wrapping paper for next year. I really lucked out and got some great deals. We headed to Starbucks after that and then went back home for the evening.

12/27 (Sat.)-We relaxed and took it easy today with my parents. For lunch we headed to Culver's (their food is so-so but their frozen custard is heavenly). I made some molasses cookies that evening and we just chilled.

BTW-I want to say Happy 1st Birthday to my first surrobabe!!! He was born after midnight on 12/27/07. I can't believe that he is already a 1 year old. Wow, time sure does fly.

12/28 (Sun.)-Mom and Dad flew back to NC today. I spent all day in bed due to reflux and I just didn't feel very good in general. Thank goodness I had a backlog of DVRed programs to watch to keep me entertained (and not to mention I had my new DS to keep me company too).

12/29 (Mon.)-And now I am finally caught up to today. We met up with Clayton's Dad and his wife for lunch at Rockbottom Brewery. It was fun catching up with them. We then went to Toys 'R Us so that the boys could spend their accumulated Christmas cash before heading back home.

Whew....I am tired of typing now. I will try to get some pics posted tomorrow. My card reader is now broken and I hate hooking my cameras (I have 2 and they each use a different kind of disk hence making a multi-disk reader much easier to deal with) directly up to the laptop. I will possibly just go buy another reader tomorrow to make it easier but we shall see. Good night everyone!!

Hi and a Big Thank You to My Blog Readers in India

24 week 3D/4D Ultrasound

You know who you are, lol. I sincerely mean it. You all are the sweetest for thinking of me and my family. I am so blessed to be connected to you through surrogacy and I can't wait to help bring your granddaughter into this world. March is going to be an awesome month!

In case my readers have no clue who I am talking about, I am referring to both of my IP's parents. They are the proud soon-to-be grandparents and they are so thrilled about the impending birth. They have sent us lots of wonderful gifts and well wishes from their homeland of India. My boys and I have received the coolest Indian clothes. One day when I have some free time I will take some pics of us in our outfits. Mine are beautifully beaded/embroidered and they are so pretty. The intricate details are stunning. The boys outfits are really cool too. The fabrics feel wonderfully silky and the colors are so nice. I also have acquired several pieces of beautiful jewelry (2 brooches from IM's mother that I *LOVE*, a pretty necklace and a pair of earrings to match from my IPs), 2 boxes full of dried fruit and nuts and a gorgeous blanket that was handmade just for me by my IF's mother. Wow, I can't believe the generosity of all these nice people that I don't even know. It is a bit overwhelming being the receiver of all this attention but I am glad that I know these lovely people are so excited about baby girl. It makes this whole surrogacy thing even more worthwhile to know just how much I am appreciated. Baby girl is very lucky to be born into such a loving family. :)

9 years ago today...

was the absolute best day of my life. I became Clayton's wife in a little courtroom in Raleigh, NC. We had just finished final exams the day before and it was the first day of our Christmas break while at NC State. Our close friends John Moore and Leslie Boone were there as our witnesses. Clayton and I were poor college kids so we couldn't afford a lavish wedding. Our families were all spread out too which made things even more difficult. I couldn't imagine arranging all the airfares that we would need to buy to get his family to NC. His Mom/Jack would have flown from Worland, WY, his Dad/Sandy would have come from Omaha, NE, his sister would have flown in from Cheyenne, WY, and his brother would have flown in from somewhere in PA. It was just too much for us to get everyone together so we decided to go it alone with our 2 friends. My family was miffed because I wouldn't allow anyone to join us that day (they all live about 1.5 hours from Raleigh in Archdale/High Point/Trinity). It just wouldn't have been fair for them to have been there when Clayton's family wasn't. Since we didn't have a ceremony, my family threw us a wedding reception that following weekend. We got tons of much-needed things and it was alot of fun. My Aunt Judy went all out and made us a pretty cake (she used to be a professional cake decorator). She also made my hubby his own groom's cake.

My parents gave us a fabulous honeymoon cruise. We took off just after the new 2000 year and it was a blast. The airline gave us first class tickets so we really lived it up. I don't think that we had ever had so much fun together. We got back to Raleigh the day before the Spring semester began so that was a bit hectic but we managed. I wish we could go back and do it all again. We will hopefully take the kiddos on their first cruise within the next year or so. It won't be as romantic but it will be just as much fun. :)

Tonight we will go out to eat and drop the kiddos off at our local drop-in childcare center in Fort Collins. That place rocks because we can drop the kids off anytime and do what we want by ourselves. The boys have lots of fun there so we don't have any guilt leaving them in their care. Heck, they don't like leaving when we go back to get them, lol.

If you are interested in reading our story about how we got together or to see a few pics from our younger years, read my post from 2005 about us HERE.

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart! I love you more than anything!!
~~Just so you know, you only have one more year to save up to buy me an awesome band for my diamond ring. Remember, the big 10 is now just a year away. ;)

So....

What's been going on with you guys? I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We have been incredibly busy around here. Thank the Lord that I did my shopping months ago or I would be going insane. We went out to the Flatirons mall yesterday in Broomfield and it was insane in there. It was worth the trip though because we scored some awesome deals for ourselves. Clayton got some khakis from JCrew for $15 (I think that they were regularly $60). I got 2 bras from Victoria's Secret for $57 (they were both regularly $48 each!). I also scored some new clothes for the baby from a place called the Pumpkin Patch. It's like a Gymboree but a little bit more high end. They are supposedly a well-known store in the UK and Australia but haven't quite hit the jackpot here in the US just yet. Let me tell you, their stuff ROCKS. Here's a taste of what they sell:




I bought Miss Thang the onesie and hair band from the first pic to go with the turquoise corduroy dress from the second pic. They didn't have any colorful tights left in her size so I got her some white ones. How cute is that?! She's gonna be adorable. I also got her a sleeper while I was there with a matching hat and bib. I am gonna hook her Mommy up when she arrives in March for the birth. ;)

Anyway, if you go to the Pumpkin Patch site to check it out don't click on the '08 catalog because it just makes you click on pics of the models one at a time with a small selection of their clothes lines. Instead, click on the little words in the blue header on the main page that say things like "baby Patch" or "kids Patch" to see all of their lines and to buy them. They sell clothes from premie age all the way up to 11 years. They also have a maternity clothes line but there is only 5 pieces of it available online.

Anyone else covered in snow? We just got dumped on again last night. The kiddos and Clayton went out sledding today and had a fun time. Poor C got worn out from pulling them around on a sled for too long though, lol.

I have got to go and get ready for bed (yes, I really am that lazy, lol). I go to bed on most nights around 8:30pm so I am running late. Hopefully I will find the time next week to upload some pics for ya'll. Ciao!