Why no pics?

I am so senile. I cannot find the charger for my Digital Rebel anywhere!! It is driving me crazy. The last time I had it was when I went to my Aunt's house in High Point, but it isn't there. I have a knack for putting things where they don't belong and then not finding them for a long time. Ack! Why don't I just put things where they belong?! Anyway, this is why I haven't been posting pics lately. I simply can't. My camera is dead. I will head on over to ebay to see if I can locate me another one for a decent price and then I can astound you guys once again with my amateur photography :P

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Hayden called me this morning and wished me a happy day and then told me he loved me. How sweet is that?! I was so thrilled to get that call. He is such a good little guy. The boys bought me a set of chairs and a little table to go on the front porch. I am thrilled! What a lucky gal I am to have such wonderful boys :)

Yesterday, the intended parents made the trek from Atlanta to meet us in person. They were fabulous!!! Clayton and I are so happy that we are working with them. We all seem to get along really well. The IM (intended mom) and I are both super chatty and the IF (intended father) and Clayton both have a sarcastic sense of humor. We loved them! Hopefully, we can get through all the tests in Denver on the 24th and then move on to cycling. I can't believe that we are moving ahead so quickly at this point. I am sooo happy about that. All the pregnant people around me are making me incredibly jealous. My body is ready to carry a baby and I am itching to get this surrogacy going. Wish us luck ;)

Updates on Big E and the Surrogacy

On Monday, Emerson went to see a cardiologist. After the doc listened to his heart, he said that there were 2 murmurs (holes)-1 innocent and the other he couldn't tell. That's when we had to get an ultrasound. You guys have no idea how sucky it was to hold him on an exam table for 30 min. while this gal kept running the transducer all over his chest. It took forever! They played a movie for him to try and keep him occupied, but he couldn't stand it much longer when the tech was almost done. We were lucky to get the last photo that was needed. It turns out that both murmurs are innocent and he can live a normal life. I am so thrilled beyond words to know that he will be okay and that the murmurs are nothing to worry about.

A shout out to all my readers, I appreciate all of the support that we have been given :)

On Wednesday and today, E went to physical therapy. The gal that is working with him is really nice and good at keeping him entertained. We couldn't get him to walk for her at the first appt. to see how he does it, but she did get to see him stand. She showed me that his ankles are very weak and that he walks on the inside of his feet. It sounds strange, but it looks even weirder, lol. We are going to have to get him to correct that so that he will walk more consistently and so that he doesn't have bigger problems down the road (bad legs/achy hips/bad back). She showed me several ways to help build his muscles up and so we have been doing that. He seems to do the exercises really well. At today's appt., he walked and stood around for her. She doesn't think that it will take too long to get him walking correctly. Yay!

I am so excited to say that the surrogacy is going along fairly well at this point. I am meeting the intended parents tomorrow. They are driving up from Atlanta to meet us. We are looking forward to talking to them face-to-face. On the 23rd, Clayton and I are flying out to Denver, CO. We will be going through the screening stuff for the clinic to make sure that neither one of us has any diseases and that we aren't insane. I am so excited to get through this part with our new couple. After the tests are over and we pass inspection, we will be on our way to doing the injections again. Yay!!! Wish us luck! We won't be back until the 25th. I will update the blog as soon as I get back to let you all know how it went ;)

Layout #1

After getting the Basic Grey Silly line in the May kit from C&H Scrapbooks, I couldn't wait to play with it. The colors are so pretty and the patterns are really cool. I had fun putting together these 3 simple layouts. Laura really loads her kits down with lots of fun embellishments too. Don't you love the flower chipboard pieces from Fancy Pants? 

Layout #2

 

Layout #3

 

Check out this recipe...

http://www.pilsbury.com/recipes/showRecipe.aspx?rID=41135
A gal was awarded a million dollars by entering it in the Pillsbury bake-off this year. It looks really good, but the ingredients are a little strange. I will try it out soon and give a review.

Speaking of recipes, if you haven't checked out the new magazine Everyday with Rachel Ray, you really should. I have been doing recipes from the newest issue everyday this past week and most of them have turned out to be very yummy. She includes a 7-day menu planner complete with shopping list in each issue. Because her recipes are simple and don't require a bunch of ingredients, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get everything. I made mozzarella stuffed meatballs last night with garlic bread and spaghetti. It was easy and delicious!

I finally upgraded and got a cool new phone

Check it out:

Clayton got me a cool new RAZR phone in pink. It is so freakin' cool! My hubby was so nice to get me the pink one rather than the others. He knew that I would have gotten the pink one if I was the one ordering it. The bad thing is that sometimes he carries my phone because it is our main household line. He is already dreading that, lol. Come on, cool guys carry pink phones too :P

Depressing News...

Emerson had his 18 month wellness check-up today and now we have 2 new appointments with specialists next week. He will see a physical therapist on Monday to find out why he isn't really walking. He has just started to stand in the middle of the floor and then walk, but he isn't doing it enough. I know he can do it though, so I am not too concerned about it. The other appointment is for a cardiologist :( He has had a heart murmur since he was born, but it should have went away by the time he turned a year old. We are going to find out just how bad it is and if surgery will be needed. If it is bad, the pediatrician said that it will need to be patched. On top of all this, he almost got referred over to a speech therapist also. I don't think that one is really necessary. He can say a few words like tree and ball. If he can't say at least 50 words by the time he is 2, we will see a therapist for that also. Sigh....

You know, Hayden was so fast at everything. I am so saddened to see my little guy so far behind. Here's how the 2 compare:

Hayden/Emerson

rolled over-1 month(exactly)/4 months
crawl-7 months/10.5 months
walk-10.5 months/not yet
say 50 words-14 months/not yet

I know, I know. You are not supposed to compare, but I can't help it. I sure hope E is okay and catches up soon. Please send him prayers. He is so sweet. I can't imagine anything being wrong with him. He is perfect in my eyes.