Gotta love SEI!

I made these 2 layouts the other day using this cool SEI paper that I got in my latest customized kit from The Scrapbook Club. I just *LOVE* this photo of Emerson and his Grandma Jacobsen. I didn't photoshop it or alter it at all. It just came out like that. It has the nicest glow to it, dontcha think?

Baby E

 

Watch GMA tomorrow!

The surrogacy story that I posted about on the 10th is going to be featured on Good Morning America tomorrow morning. It should be featured sometime around 8am EST.

Catching up...

Sorry I haven't updated lately. The kiddos and I were in High Point with my family all last week. I couldn't get online because my Uncle lost his password to his Internet account. His computer won't go online any more, so I was just going to connect my laptop to his connection. I remember doing it before and the password was written down, but we couldn't find the paper anywhere. Ugh. Anyway, my Mom had a pretty invasive surgery done last Monday and she is doing way better than expected. I am so glad that she isn't hurting.

I have great news on the surrogacy front. I begin injectibles (Lupron) and antibiotics on Thursday. Yee haw! It's weird to be excited about sticking needles in my stomach again, lol. We are going to transfer the embryos sometime between the 24th-26th of August. I cannot wait!!! My intended Mother is over the moon and is anxious to get to that point. I have my fingers and toes crossed that this all works out and that the intended parents have a baby to bring into their home. These 2 people are just the nicest you will ever meet. They are so fun and easy-going. I know that they will be awesome parents. Please keep them in your thoughts/prayers over the next month. They want this more than anything and this is their last chance. They have already used a surrogate for 3 other transfers and they are still empty-handed. We hope that this time will be different since we are using the best RE (reproductive endocrinologist) in the US for this transfer. I will keep you all updated.

J-fer, plan on me being in Denver from August 23rd-28th. We need to get together. I will have to be on strict bedrest for 48 hours after the transfer, but I don't know which day it will be until I get there. I will call you when I know more. You need to email me your phone number again.

And this is why I am a surrogate...

Click here to read a newspaper article from the Raleigh News & Observer about a couple who had a long and hard battle with unexplained infertility. The awesome thing about this couple is that they finally did end up with two children-1 via the natural mother and the other via a surrogate. The clencher is that they were both pregnant at the same time so the kids are twins that developed in separate wombs. It is truly a sweet and interesting story.

My All American Boy on the 4th 

Emerson watering the lawn 

Hayden 

Hayden playing in his pool 

Summertime fun

We now have a hideous $10 pool to help kill the grass that we are desperately trying to grow. At least the kids love it. I took several photos of the kids in it last weekend, but this one is my absolute favorite. Their expressions kill me! Hayden looks all tough and Emerson looks goofy. It cracks me up :) 

4th of July

This post is a bit late, but oh well. I packed us up an awesome picnic (a la Paula Dean), but we ended up eating it out on our patio instead of the park. It was insanely hot. I couldn't stand being out there the 15 minutes that we were. The park would have been miserable. It began to rain a couple of hours later and that put a damper on our fireworks plan. We decided to brave the weather and go anyway with our friends, the Smiths. We had to park forever away, but it was well worth it. Just before the fireworks began, the rain really started coming down. We were afraid that they would cancel the whole thing and that we got drenched for nothing. The good thing is that the rain subsided long enough to do the show and it was the best show ever! Our view was breathtaking. We had to lay on our backs and look up because we were so close to them. Even though the ground was wet and yucky, it didn't matter. It felt like the fireworks were close enough to us to touch. It was amazing. 

Check this out!

We are planning a trip to Walt Disney World for next year (Sept. 22-29, 2007). Several people from my family are going-my Mom, Aunt Judy, Christine, Aaron, Joshua, Jake, and possibly my cousins Sheila and Rachel. The last time we went was in May 2000 with our friends Jason and Natascha. We had a blast back then, so I am anxious to return. This time will be even better because we have 2 small little kids that will be oohing and ahhing over everything. We will also be staying on the grounds, so it will be even more magical. They are going to *LOVE* it! I am having a bit of a dilemma trying to figure out which hotel to put us in. The ones I am looking at are: The Polynesian, The Contemporary, The Wilderness Lodge, and I am sorta considering the new family suites that are a fabulous steal-of-a-deal at All Star Music. The ASM suites are really nice and very cheap, but I would like the luxuries that the deluxe resorts have to offer. I just can't make up my mind. At least I have a while to think about it ;)

FYI-If your name wasn't listed above in the traveling party, you are more than welcome to join us. The more, the merrier!

July layouts for C&H Scrapbooks

I just did 3 more layouts using the fabulous July kit from C&H Scrapbooks. This kit has been my favorite from them, but the August kit is going to be even better! It will feature the new lines-Scientifically Weird (Gin-X) and Rise & Shine (Chloe's Closet). If you want a peek at those lines, check this link. I am so psyched!! 

Layout #2

 

Layout #3

This is a scraplift of a layout that Angelia Wiggington did in the CK 30 Minute Pages book.